Duel Disks and Keyblades
by FlikFreak
Summary: Battle City has finally ended, and all should have been quiet in Domino City. Heartless and Nobodies threaten peace, and it's not long before Yugi finds out that he's not alone in this battle to save his home...
1. Detour

My gawd, it's a CROSSOVER?! But since it's Kingdom Hearts it's easier to get away with. Well, here goes.

Summary: Sora's adventures across the different worlds lands him unexpectedly in Domino City, right in the middle of a tournament. The Heartless and Nobodies alike are rampaging freely, and knowing that he can't do it alone, Sora quickly turns to find help…and gets two for the price of one.

Author's note: Worst. Summary. Evar.

Disclaimer: _Yu-Gi-Oh!_ is owned by Kazuki Takahashi. _Kingdom Hearts_ is owned by Tetsuya Nomura and all that.

* * *

**Duel Disks and Keyblades**

**By FlikFreak**

**Chapter One: Detour**

* * *

The sky beyond the clouds swirled elegantly as multi-colored hues mixed around, various stars twinkling playfully. If one looked closely enough, they would see the sun on the horizon. Altogether a wonderful, beautiful sight to behold. Those that did so much as hear about it would do just about anything to see it for themselves.

Sora hardly noticed it.

Truth be told, the first time Sora had been in the Gummi Ship he had wowed at the sight of the sky beyond the atmosphere of Traverse Town. It never ceased to amaze him, that was true, but right now his thoughts were focused. The previous night when he had been resting in Radiant Garden, a stranger had approached him.

_He had been garbed in a cream-white cloak and turban. His complexion was dark, and his azure eyes were devoid of emotion. Around his neck was a rope, tied to an ankh-shaped key of sorts. Upon this sight, Sora had been very close to summoning the Keyblade to defend himself, but this man did not have any real weapon. Instead, he had resorted to words. "Who are you?"_

"_My name is of no real consequence," the stranger had replied. "You are the Key Bearer, correct?"_

_Sora couldn't help but be surprised. People had approached him about this before, but such a person like this simply made him nervous about the whole affair. Deciding to play it safe, the boy narrowed his gaze. "And if I am?"_

_The instant he said it, the key around the man's neck glistened very slightly. Normally he would not have noticed it, but years of battling Heartless and Nobodies with the keyblade had honed his ability to notice such things. The man's gaze narrowed a bit. "I do not wish to force myself on you to extract the truth," he said. "But if you are the Key Bearer, I must request your assistance."_

_If anything, that had caught Sora's attention. When someone asked for his help with that tone of voice, it could only mean one thing, and he never liked the sound of it. "I'll do what I can," he said. "What do you need?"_

"_Dark creatures threaten our world," the man said, seeming satisfied with Sora's answer. "Chaos is invading our safety. We have done our best to hold them off, but our own efforts are in decline. We need you to find someone for us."_

"_Find someone?" Sora echoed. "That's it? What do I do when I find him?"_

"_It will all become clear when you arrive," the man said vaguely, vanishing from sight. Sora was left with nothing in his mind but confusion. Where the man had vanished, however, he found a very familiar-looking Gummi Block…_

_Wasting no time, Sora leapt out of bed and made way for Merlin's. He was going to have a talk with a certain engineer…_

"Wake up and smell the coffee, Sora!"

The spikey-haired boy flailed a bit when he heard the sudden transmission, taking a moment before he could calm. "I'm here, Cid. What is it?"

"About time," the voice grumbled. "Listen, I've got some information on where you're headed. The details are a bit shady, but I've managed to dig up a few things that may prove useful."

"Like what?"

"Well," Cid began as a flurry of keystrokes came from across the communications line, "The specific part you'll be entering is called Domino City. The King visited it a long time ago and nicknamed it the City of Games."

"City of Games, huh?" Sora replied.

Cid sighed. "Yeah, City of Games. I wasn't able to dig up anything else, but I was getting some weird readings from there."

Sora felt himself stiffen. Cid was very knowledgeable about what he found, no matter what it was. If he didn't recognize a signal, then it couldn't be good news. "You didn't recognize them at all?"

"Not quite," came the reply. "They looked a lot like those Nobody readings that I used to get so I thought that's what they were, but they just didn't match up at all. I'm not sure what they are, but be on your guard, kid."

With that, the connection was closed. Sora rolled his eyes, half at the fact that Cid called him 'kid' again, and half at the fact that once again he was being left in the dark for details. Then again, he couldn't be that angry. Cid wasn't the one to be at loss for details. If he couldn't get it, then no one could.

The world was soon in sight. It was definitely a city from the sight of it, Sora knew that much. He paused, however, when he noticed a very dark and sinister aura reaching him.

_Heartless? Or maybe…_

* * *

Ever since Battle City, duels had commonly taken place in the streets in Domino City. In fact, it was not uncommon for one to pass by one on their way to the market. Today was no exception.

Jounouchi was headed to the Game Shop to visit Yugi when he passed by one duel in particular. He didn't recognize either of the duelists, but stopped by anyway to watch for a moment. Both duelists seemed to be giving each other the death glare, which was mostly what caught his attention. Nudging a nearby spectator, he asked what this match was all about.

"Didn't you hear? They were talking about some rumor going around and they decided to duel to prove who was right."

_That's kind of a weak reason to duel,_ the blonde mused, but he stayed to watch anyway. Maybe if he hung around long enough they'd start trash-talking each other and he'd find out what this mess was about. He'd seen people duel over all sorts of things – who would pay for the trip to KaibaLand (it ended in a draw, so they both split the costs), who deserved a rare card, who would enter the Battle City tournament – but this just took the cake. Dueling over the validity over a rumor? That was just nuts… "What's the rumor, anyway?" Jounouchi finally asked.

The kid glanced up at him momentarily. "Well, people say that the Rare Hunters are back or something. There are some weird guys in cloaks walking around. One of these guys says that they're not the Rare Hunters; they're just a bunch of thugs trying to creep people out. The other guy says that the Rare Hunters really are back and they're up to no good again."

At this, Jounouchi couldn't help but hesitate. The Rare Hunters couldn't really be back. That was impossible. Marik had quit that line of business a long time ago. He did have to agree though; people in black cloaks walking around…it definitely seemed suspicious. Maybe Yugi would know something. Whatever this was, it couldn't be good.

Out of the corner of his eye, Jounouchi saw one.

* * *

Sora arrives in Domino City in the next chapter, and Yugi will make his appearance as well. My gawd, I must be going insane to be writing a CROSSOVER.


	2. The Name of the Game

Before I start this chapter, I will _**strongly**_ note that I am _**not putting any OCs (Original Characters) in this.**_ It may seem that way at first glance to some of you, but trust me, it's not. If there were OCs, there would be no plot twist, now, would there?

Disclaimer: _Yu-Gi-Oh!_ is owned by Kazuki Takahashi. _Kingdom Hearts_ is owned by Tetsuya Nomura and all that.

* * *

**Duel Disks and Keyblades**

**By FlikFreak**

**Chapter Two: The Name of the Game**

* * *

Landing hadn't gone quite as smoothly as Sora had hoped, but he managed to get on the ground unscathed. Domino City, as it was apparently called, was definitely a bit more crowded than he anticipated…then again, wherever else he looked there weren't quite as many people. Maybe there was some special occasion going on? Deciding it would be better to see for himself than ask a stranger, Sora pushed his way slowly through the crowd, making his way to the front. It was crowded, yes, but it wasn't packed. Soon he was at the front of the crowd…

…where he found a dinosaur roaring right in his face.

Crying out, Sora stumbled backward in shock and was about to summon the Keyblade when someone grabbed the collar of his shirt and dragged him back into the crowd. "Take it easy, kid! It's just a hologram!"

At first, Sora was about to complain to being called 'kid' again, but the latter comment drowned the thought with a wave of relief. Regaining his footing, Sora turned to his rescuer and rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. "Sorry about that," he said, chuckling nervously.

The person that he now faced was a somewhat odd fellow. He was wearing a green, long-sleeved vest and a pair of jeans, and blonde hair hung unruly over his head, with deep brown eyes staring back at him. A small backpack was slung over his shoulder. "Don't worry about it," the boy replied. "You just look like you've never seen a duel before."

"Duel?" Sora echoed, sapphire eyes blinking. This happened every time he visited a new world; some odd new concept was introduced to him that he knew nothing about.

The boy looked around briefly before leaning in on Sora. "You _have_ seen a duel before, right?" When Sora shook his head, the boy's eyes widened a bit in surprise. "You're not from around here, are you?"

"No," Sora replied, chuckling inwardly at how true the statement was. "I'm not."

"Then it's lucky you ran into me when you did," the boy replied. "I can help you out."

Sora grinned. "Thanks, but…you haven't even told me you're name. I'm Sora." The boy accordingly held his hand out.

The stranger shook it gladly. "Nice to meetcha, Sora. My name's Jounouchi." The blonde turned his gaze back to the scene in front of them. "What's going on here is a casual game of Duel Monsters. The game is really popular here in Domino, though lately people've been dueling to settle arguments, make agreements…" he shook his head. "These two are dueling to decide who's right about a rumor."

The spikey-haired boy blinked. "That sounds…odd."

"It is," Jounouchi replied. "I'm a duelist myself, but I don't normally duel to settle crap like that. I keep it strictly for fun and friendly competition when I have to."

"Competition?" Sora asked.

Jounouchi chuckled. "You really aren't from around here, are you?" he said. "Tell you what. I was headed over to my friend's place." As he said it, he jabbed a thumb behind him to a small shop. "His grandpa is a Duel Monsters expert. He'll tell you everything you want to know."

"Is your friend a duelist too?" Sora asked as they began walking over there. He earned a knowing grin from Jounouchi.

"You bet he is," the blonde said. "He's one of the best I know. In fact, he's good at practically any game you throw at him. He came in first at the Duelist Kingdom tournament a few months ago, and he won Battle City, too…" At the end of the sentence, however, Jounouchi's tone began to fade into a bit of sadness. Sora knew better than to ask about it, judging from how it sounded, and continued to walk silently.

Not much time passed before they came upon the door, which Jounouchi comfortably pushed open. As the bell rang, Sora caught a short conversation going on inside.

"…yet, have you?"

"I passed by him this morning. He said something about the Pha-" A brunette girl standing at the shop counter paused in mid-sentence when she heard the door open. Turning around, she gave a smile to the new-comers. "Hey, Jounouchi. Come to buy more cards today?"

Jounouchi shook his head. "Nah, not today. I found this guy at the duel outside. He's new around here, so I thought I could get Gramps to show him the ropes." Jounouchi gestured to the girl and old man before them. "Guys, this is Sora. Sora, this is Anzu and Sugoroku Mutou."

Sora waved sheepishly before turning his attention to the old man standing behind the counter. "Hi there," he said.

Sugoroku crossed his arms in his trademark fashion. "So, you're interested in Duel Monsters, eh?" he said. "I'd have my grandson show you a few things, but he went out to town a moment ago."

"Yugi's not here?" Jounouchi asked.

"Yugi?" Sora echoed.

"My friend," Jounouchi explained. "I was coming to see him, remember?"

"He was at the central square earlier," Anzu said, tucking a stray strand of hair behind one ear. "He was talking about some weird guys in black cloaks."

At the mention of this, Sora stiffened. Whenever he heard the mere mention of a black cloak, he always thought immediately of Organization XIII. He had already taken care of them! How could they possibly be back? Turning to Jounouchi to speak, he found the boy in a similar state of thought, but he shook his head. "It's probably just some thugs trying to creep people out," he said. "The Rare Hunters disbanded ages ago, everyone knows that."

"Rare Hunters?" Sora asked.

"It's a long story," the blonde replied, an odd look of thought on his face.

The moment he did, the bell at the door jingled once again. "I'm home, Grandpa!" a voice said as a boy just about Sora's height entered the room.

"Nice to see you, Yugi," Jounouchi said, waving to the newcomer.

Sora stood in silence; the boy he was looking at had to be the strangest person he ever laid eyes on. He had seen crazy things in the various worlds he had been to – the zombified pirates in Port Royal, the strange characters in Halloween Town, and even the programs inside a computer – but this took the cake. The boy looked to be in _at least_ middle school (at the thought of that, Sora absently wondered how much homework he had missed during his adventures over the years), wearing a pair of blue pants, a loose, dark shirt and a blue jacket over it. A strange collar was buckled around his neck, and hanging from a chain was what caught most of his interest: a golden, pyramid-shaped pendant, hanging with the point facing down, a wadjet eye staring out the front. Sora knew that something was odd about this young man…but what?

"Ah, Yugi!" Sugoroku said grandly, jerking Sora from his thoughts. "This boy here was expressing some interest in Duel Monsters. We were just wondering if you could show him a trick or two."

Yugi smiled sheepishly. "I guess," he said. "It'd get my mind off of those freaks, at least."

"Freaks?" Anzu asked. "Don't tell me you ran into one of those cloaked guys…"

There was a brief moment of silence. Yugi glanced to the side momentarily, then shook his head. "I did," he said, "But it's nothing to worry about."

At this point, Sora decided that it was time he spoke up. If this was Organization XIII he was dealing with, he wouldn't want to endanger anyone. "You keep mentioning guys in cloaks," he said. "Are there any other rumors about them?"

"Not that I know of," Jounouchi said. "But these guys near the shop were dueling about it."

"Cloaked guys, you say?" The old man interjected. "I heard a few things."

Sora's attention was diverted immediately. "Like what?"

Sugoroku crossed his arms. "Well, one of my customers came in with a warning the other day. It seems like these guys are foreigners looking to cause trouble. They aren't really into Duel Monsters, but they seem to possess powers on par with even the Millennium Items, and they go around picking fights in search of something."

"Sounds like a mix between the Rare Hunters and a bad villain from a comic book," Anzu grumbled.

"Were there any sightings of them recently?" Sora asked, a serious look on his face.

"They usually pop up when people duel," the old man continued. "But they only pick fights with certain people…"

"Now that you mention it," Jounouchi said, rubbing his chin, "I saw one near that duel just outside. If it's still going on we could go outside and find him."

Sora nodded. "But if he picks a fight, can you defend yourselves? If not, you should probably stay here." When the two boys nodded, Sora headed swiftly out the door with them following.

Outside, the duel was indeed still going on. The two were apparently tied and at a stalemate judging by the crowd's reaction, and Sora wasted no time in examining the crowd closely. Nothing could be seen immediately. Calling upon the keyblade's power silently, his attention soon focused on the far end of the block, where a man stood on the street corner. Racing forward, he charged past the crowd and skidded to a halt a few yards from the stranger, with Yugi and Jounouchi right behind him. The cloaked figure, however, noticed, and took off running.

"You're not ganna get away!" Jounouchi shouted. Sora couldn't help but agree. He could stop the stranger right then and there if he wanted, but using magic now would be too risky. _Do not meddle in the affairs of other worlds,_ he had been told. _It's a rule._

But rules could be bent.

As the group rounded a corner, however, they were confronted by corpse-white humanoids, zipper-like maws open and gaping to reveal razor-sharp teeth within. Their roars of anger were silent, their motions jagged and threatening. Sora backed away a few steps. "I thought I already took care of all of you!" he cried.

The cloaked figure, whom stood not far away, chuckled. "You didn't get _all_ of us…Roxas."

* * *

Soooooo…chaos? Next chapter soons.


	3. Making a Comeback

Yet another chapter. Apparently this story is good? Anywyho, quick few notes before we resume the chaos.

1. There are **_no original characters_**. No main ones anyway. The closest we're probably ever going to get to an OC will be Thug number one and Thug number two whom have been temporarily blessed with names. Keeping it this way makes it much easier for me.

2. This story flows around the end of Kingdom Hearts II and after Battle City. There will be a few spoilers tossed here and there (though most are about Roxas), so beware if you haven't played through/seen either.

3. For those of you that loved the sinister, psychotic, Shadow-Game loving Yami from season one (The first arc. You know, Death-T? Ushio? That part of the story), I assure you we will be seeing a _PENALTY GAME_ sooner or later. If not, I can guarantee you a _MIND CRUSH_ on one of the villains. Depends on what you guys prefer seeing.

4. For Yugi's other self, some people may prefer "Other Me" or "Mou Hitori no Boku" or "Atemu," but for the sake of simplicity I'm calling him Yami.

Disclaimer: _Yu-Gi-Oh!_ is owned by Kazuki Takahashi. _Kingdom Hearts_ is owned by Tetsuya Nomura and all that.

* * *

**Duel Disks and Keyblades**

**By FlikFreak**

**Chapter Three: Making a Comeback**

* * *

Yugi didn't know what to think of this situation. These creatures didn't look all that friendly, and they certainly didn't remind him of any Duel Monsters. This person – Sora – apparently was familiar with them, but he had a feeling the stranger wasn't familiar with Sora. After all, he had gotten his name wrong.

Sora scowled. "Don't call me that," he protested. "I'm not Roxas, no matter how hard you may try to convince me."

"Still in denial?" the stranger said, grinning. "It's such a shame…you would have been _so_ helpful to us…"

"I've already taken care of you once," Sora growled. "Don't make me do it again."

"There will be no need," the stranger hissed back at him. "_We_ will be the ones defeating _you_ this time."

"What's going on here?!" Jounouchi demanded, stepping forward. "What do you creeps want?"

The stranger seemed to turn his gaze to Jounouchi, whom promptly stepped back. "So you brought some friends with you?" He taunted. "How amusing…"

"That's enough talk from you!" Sora growled. "I'm here on business; I don't have _time_ to deal with _you_."

"I'd hate to tell that to our new leader," the stranger continued. "He was kind enough to revive us though the use of shadow magic…"

Sora flinched noticeably, backing away. Yugi narrowed his eyes, but offered no statement. _Yami, are you there?_

_I've been watching this whole time,_ Yami replied as he appeared in spirit form next to his friend. _I don't like this. Be ready to fight if you have to.  
_

The cloaked figure laughed. "And it seems his _guess_ was right on the money. Looks like you've got _three_ friends with you, little boy."

Yugi felt Yami stiffen. How did this person know about the Pharaoh? He couldn't possibly see him, let alone hear. As Yami slunk back into the puzzle quietly, Yugi reached quietly for his deck and Sora stared in confusion. "Three?" He said. "But there are only two people with me."

"So you think," the stranger chuckled. "But enough of that. Time to put you out of your misery!" The creatures charged forward.

_Yami! Hurry!_

_On it._

There was a brief flash of golden light and Yami seized control. Whipping out the card he had pulled from his deck, he brandished it forward, summoning a shield of light that slammed into the white husks and shattered them, much to the shock of both the stranger and Sora. Stepping forward once the shield was gone, Yami narrowed his eyes and confronted the stranger. "I don't know who you are or why you're threatening us, but I suggest that you leave immediately if you value your life."

The stranger gave a brief smirk as a portal of darkness appeared behind him. As he backed away and vanished along with the strange darkness, Yami relinquished control to Yugi, and both looked at the card in hand.

_Mirror Force,_ Yugi mused.

Yami grinned. _Nice choice, Yugi._

_Don't thank me,_ Yugi replied sheepishly. _You're the one that could actually make it work._

"Who was that?" Jounouchi asked, rubbing his head. "It's definitely not a rare hunter; they were never _that_ creepy."

Sora clenched his fists. "I thought I got rid of them already," he said, "But he's a member of a group called Organization XIII."

"They don't sound all that friendly," Yugi commented. "I take it you know about them?"

"Yeah," Sora replied after a brief hesitation. "They basically went around stealing stuff and attacking people, but I was their main target because I had something they wanted."

"So they're still after it?" Jounouchi asked. Yugi nodded in agreement.

Sora, however, shook his head. "They've already lost the means to make any use of it, to put it simply. What I'm wondering is how and why they're back." His thoughtful expression left, and he smiled, turning to Yugi. "Nice job standing up to him," he said. "I've had to deal with these guys tons of times before but they usually picked a fight before running off like that."

Yugi grinned. "It was nothing." _We've dealt with this sort of thing before…besides, I don't think that's the last we'll see of these creeps._

_It usually never is,_ Yami commented darkly. _This whole thing is suspicious if you ask me._

"Can we leave now?" Jounouchi interjected. "This alley gives me the creeps, and there's no telling when any more of those monsters are going to show up."

Sora and Yugi nodded. They hadn't really noticed it before, but when they followed the stranger they had ended up in a back alley in the rough part of town. Luckily they hadn't gone too deep in, so it was easy to walk out. Yugi wasn't worried much either; he knew Yami could easily take care of whatever came their way if they couldn't.

"By the way," Sora began, "What was with that shield or whatever it was?"

Jounouchi glanced at Yugi, whom only shrugged. "It wasn't me," he said, grinning inwardly, "And I know it wasn't Jounouchi. He was standing right beside me." Of course, it _had_ been Yugi in a way, but the boy wasn't sure which side Sora was on, and decided not to say anything. What he did know, however, was that something wasn't quite as it seemed. Over the years he had grown very keen on being able to tell what was going on in someone's mind by just looking at them, and though Sora looked cheerful, he could still tell that there was worry filling his mind.

* * *

"Sir, I believe we have found him. The one you were looking for."

A man stood shrouded in the shadows of the room, staring at the empty stone wall behind him. "Good work, schemer…but why did you not destroy him? Surely he could have been out of our way if you had…"

"I would have, but he was not alone. The Pharaoh also countered the Dusks in a single motion…"

The man scowled. _Him again…will he never cease to haunt me?_ "I see," was the cool and calm reply. "I cannot blame you for such a thing. Shadi must be behind this."

"I agree," the cloaked stranger said. "We cannot underestimate their power if we are to defeat them."

The shaded man turned to face his minion with a stern gaze, his face still shrouded by darkness. "Even so," he said sternly, "We must be rid of this menace. The power of the Millennium Puzzle coupled with that of the Keyblade is a major threat to our plan. We will have to send one of our own to ambush them."

"A preemptive strike of sorts, sir?"

The stranger nodded. "Yes, and I know just the thing that could help." Pulling a card from his pocket, the man threw it through the air, where the darker cloaked figure caught it. "Give that to the _Savage Nymph_, and tell her that we have a task for her…"

* * *

Don't you hate when the bad guys do that? Anyway. Next chapter soon. There will be a small revelation on the Millennium Items and the Nobodies and all that sooner or later.


	4. Truth Among Legend

Stupid explain stuff chapters...

Disclaimer: _Yu-Gi-Oh!_ is owned by Kazuki Takahashi. _Kingdom Hearts_ is owned by Tetsuya Nomura and all that.

* * *

**Duel Disks and Keyblades**

**By FlikFreak**

**Chapter Four: Truth among Legend  
**

* * *

The trip back to the game shop was quieter than any of them had anticipated. Sora managed to lighten the mood when he pointed out a duel ending near their destination (Jounouchi chuckled knowingly, but Yugi simply tilted his head and mentioned something about rabid fans), but aside from that the trip was relatively uneventful…which was fine, seeing as how Sora needed a moment or two to reflect on a few things.

Number one rule as a Keyblade Master traversing worlds…you must never meddle in the affairs of the respective worlds. Sure, Sora had constantly meddled and broken that rule, but that was only when that world was being threatened by heartless or nobodies. This, of course, meant that he could not reveal his identity as Keyblade Master unless in the most dire of circumstances.

That and the fact that he had no idea what to expect here made him all the more wary. After all, that cloaked stranger only told him to find someone. Who was he supposed to find? And when he _did_ manage to find that person, what was he supposed to do afterward? The obvious answer was, of course, to get rid of the nobodies here, but other than that it was vague…

And what did that stranger mean by _three_ people? Glancing at the odd pendant around Yugi's neck again, he began to ponder the thought further. Perhaps one of his newly-found friends was hiding something…

"Earth to Sora!"

Sora yelped a bit and turned his attention to Jounouchi, whom had bopped him on the head lightly. "I'm here! I'm here!"

The blonde laughed. "Don't mention it. You looked like you were off in la-la land, staring at Yugi's puzzle like that."

"Puzzle?" Sora echoed. "I thought it was a necklace."

"We can tell you about it if you'd like," Yugi said, glancing around, "But not out here. Too many ears."

Sora agreed, and the group entered the shop. Sugoroku greeted them before returning to cleaning up the shelves (Anzu had gone home), and the three headed up to Yugi's bedroom, which was surprisingly clean aside from some various papers spread across his desk (they were written in an alphabet Sora wasn't too familiar with, but he noticed an odd sketch of a furry ball with two eyes and four legs on one). The only other things in the room – aside from the desk near the upward-slanted window – was a large mirror hanging on the wall next to a small and modern-style armoire, the single bed (the sheets were messily made up), and a bookshelf containing mostly magazines, manga, and a few indiscernible texts that didn't look too terribly interesting. A backpack was tossed onto the pillow of the bed, while a duffel bag was roughly shoved underneath it. A small golden box sat atop his desk, covered in what Sora recognized as hieroglyphics, with a wadjet eye on the front staring back at him vaguely.

Upon entering, Yugi took the seat near his desk while Jounouchi claimed the floor. Sora sat on the bed after receiving silent consent from Yugi, whom was the first to speak. "So, what is it you want to know about the puzzle?"

"It's namesake," Sora said. "It looks like a pendant to me. Why is it called a puzzle?"

Yugi beamed slightly. "It's called the Millennium Puzzle," he said. "It's an old artifact from ancient Egypt. It took me eight years to solve it."

"It's from ancient Egypt?" Sora asked.

"Yeah. There's an old legend surrounding it." With a quick glance toward his door, Yugi leaned in slightly. "They say five thousand years ago, there were terrible games called Shadow Games played in Egypt. It wasn't until a certain pharaoh locked the magic away into the Millennium Items that it was finally under control and lost to time."

"Sounds creepy," Sora said, wincing.

"There's more though," Jounouchi said, his expression a bit dark. "Each of the items supposedly had a power, right Yugi?"

Yugi nodded. "That's right…they say the Millennium Puzzle is the most powerful one of them all, but no one's ever been able to find out what its power was supposed to be." A slight hesitation. "There's more to it, but we can talk about that later. Egyptian Mythology isn't my strong point."

"Sounds like an interesting enough story," Sora said, grinning. If Yugi was willing to share some of the stories about his pendant, perhaps he could trust him with a bit of information… "I know a story too, if you wanna hear it."

"Sure!" Yugi said. Jounouchi gave a similar, yet wordless, agreement.

Sora cleared his throat and sat forward. "Well, every night in the sky, you can see tons of stars, right? Well, each of those stars is a different world, and each world has a sort of heart, the same way people do. One day, these weird and evil creatures called heartless appeared in all the worlds. They took many shapes, forms and sizes. They had no hearts, or rather, they were the very essence of the darkness itself in a heart…the sort of thing that gradually corrupts someone and turns them truly evil. They were savage, and after taking the hearts of people, they also went after the hearts of worlds. When a world's heart was taken, it was completely destroyed, and the star that represented that world would fade from the sky."

"Didn't anyone stop them?" Jounouchi interjected.

"Yes," Sora said, completely in a story-telling mood. "There was one person known as the Keyblade Master who had his own world taken from him. He traveled across several worlds and fought endless waves of heartless with a powerful and mysterious weapon known as the Keyblade. What he ultimately wanted was to be reunited with his friends and go home, but before he could he had to restore his home." He paused for a moment, staring at his feet. "And in order to restore his home, he had to save the remaining worlds before they were lost. Many things happened after that, but the story continues to say that he still travels to each of the worlds, searching for old friends and making new ones."

Yugi sat back in his chair, seemingly impressed. "I feel kind of sorry for that person," he said. "But he sounds like even with all that responsibility on his shoulders, he never loses hope."

"If we've learned anything, Yugi," Jounouchi added, "We've learned that there's truth to every story."

The boy nodded. "Every story has even a small bit of truth. Some stories are told in riddles while others are straightforward."

Sora nodded. "I agree. I've heard tons of crazy tales where I'm from, and all of them rang true one way or another."

"At any rate," Yugi began, stretching and gesturing to the window, "It's ganna be nightfall soon. Are you staying somewhere Sora, or do you wanna stay here?"

Jounouchi quirked an eyebrow. "Do you even have space?"

Yugi rubbed his head sheepishly. "Well, not really, but I can sleep on the floor. It's not like we haven't done it before." He winked at Jounouchi, whom in turn chuckled.

"Ah, right. That little camping trip of ours didn't have any hotels, now, did it?"

* * *

A woman in a black cloak tapped her foot impatiently as she examined the card in her hand. "He told you to give me _this_?" she grumbled. "Honestly, a new power would have been nice, but a simple card isn't going to help me much."

The other cloaked figure shook his head. "He specifically told me that you were the one that needed it. He also has a task for you involving that card."

The woman narrowed her jade-green eyes. "And that task would be?"

"The _Key to Destiny_ has appeared in Domino City."

"Roxas, eh?" she said, examining the card with a grin. "Boy do I miss him. Does the task involve confiscating his limbs?"

"Somewhat," the man replied. "You are to…eliminate him in order to allow our plans to proceed. You are also strongly advised to get rid of the Pharaoh as well."

The woman grinned sweetly. "Sounds like fun," she said. "And how is this silly little card supposed to help me?"

"That is an aspect that I believe you will enjoy hearing about," The man said, chuckling darkly. "Allow me to explain…"

* * *

Peaceful? Not for long...


	5. Hidden Thoughts

Disclaimer: _Yu-Gi-Oh!_ is owned by Kazuki Takahashi. _Kingdom Hearts_ is owned by Tetsuya Nomura and all that.

* * *

**Duel Disks and Keyblades**

**By FlikFreak**

**Chapter Five: Hidden Thoughts**

* * *

Sora had accepted Yugi's offer to stay the night, which only partially relieved him. The boy was definitely trustworthy, but he knew something was odd about him. Yugi wanted to know what exactly it was, but he wanted to find out, and he knew just how to do it.

"You're the best judge of people's character that I know," Yami said to his partner as they stood in the hallway between their soul rooms. "If you're suspicious of him, why did you allow him to stay here?"

"It's not really that I'm suspicious," Yugi replied. "But those guys keep calling him Roxas, just like they keep calling me Pharaoh. They're talking to me but referring to you. I think something's going on with Sora that he's not telling us."

"He doesn't have a Millennium Item," Yami pointed out, crossing his arms. "You don't think that…"

Yugi nodded. "Yeah. He might have had one in the past, but had it taken from him. That, or this is actually Roxas we're seeing, but he's being possessed by someone named Sora. I want to find out the truth, so he doesn't end up in a fix like Bakura."

Yami turned his gaze away. "The past holds all truth," he said. "Maybe if we used the Torque…"

"You mean the Millennium Necklace?" Yugi inquired.

"Yes," the spirit replied, nodding. "We don't have any other options if we want to know the truth, unless you feel like somehow getting a hold of Shadi's Millennium Key."

Yugi swallowed hard as he headed back to his soul room. "It's worth a shot."

A small while later Yugi was back in control of his body, and winced as his hearing returned. _Sweet mother of Ra,_ he heard Yami comment, _That boy snores terribly._

_I hear you there,_ Yugi replied, wincing, _But at least he's comfortable._ Sure enough, Sora had gone from sleeping stiffly on the bed to being sprawled across it like a limp puppet. It was somewhat amusing to look at; it reminded Yugi of whenever Jounouchi had to come spend the night due to his own troubles at home.

Yugi bit his lip as he quietly unzipped the duffel bag underneath his desk. Rummaging through it as softly as he could, he reached past his Duel Disk and other various things to pull out a small, golden object in the shape of the familiar-looking wadjet eye. Two loops on the side could tie it directly around one's neck like a choker, but Yugi knew more than anyone that it could be used without such means. Yugi stared at it for a moment before looking at the sleeping form of Sora.

_You don't have to do this,_ Yami said quietly.

_I need to,_ Yugi replied vehemently. _Sora's hiding something from us, and from what I've learned in the past, that sort of thing will only lead to people being hurt in the end._

_In other words, you're worried about him,_ Yami added. Yugi nodded in reply. _Well, it may not be the best choice in tactic, but I don't think this boy will answer straight questions from us, either, judging by how he answered our inquiries after the encouter. Do as you will, but be careful._

Yugi nodded hesitantly as Yami fell silent. He crept a few inches closer to Sora, hoping not to wake the boy (though judging by the snoring, he probably wasn't about to wake up any time soon). As he focused, the eye of the Millennium Necklace lit up, blinding Yugi momentarily.

It took a while to adjust – ever since Ishizu had given Yugi the necklace, he had never used it – but before long, the image became clear. Yugi found himself hovering somewhat near a beach. There was an endless ocean around the island, on which there were a multitude of tropical plants as well as a few docks, a shack, a fort, a small platform and a beautiful waterfall nearby. The grace of the image was marred, however, by a terrible storm blowing through the area. Above him in the sky was a swirling mass of darkness, energy crackling over the sphere like a sort of thunder.

The sound of oars in the water caught Yugi's attention. He turned and saw none other than Sora, looking about a year or so younger, rowing a boat up to the dock and securing it there. He looked around at two other boats docked there with wide eyes before turning to look at the storm in the sky. "What _is_ that thing?" he wondered aloud.

_This must be Sora's memory,_ Yugi mused to himself. _It doesn't look like a particularly happy one…_

A whirring sound caught Sora's and Yugi's attention. They both turned their eyes to the "mainland," where darkness began to rise from the ground in the form of lowly, humanoid beasts no bigger than a Kuriboh, insectoid antennae waving about as though searching for something. Sora's eyes widened in terror and he pulled a wooden sword from his belt, backing away from the monsters.

_Those must be the heartless he talked about,_ Yugi thought in realization. _There _is_ truth to the legend…but why are they in his memory?_

Sora lunged at one of the beasts with his sword, but such a plaything didn't even phase the monster. It leapt toward him, claws bared…

The image began to flicker before Yugi like static on a television. The boy blinked; perhaps the Necklace was sensing something. Yami appeared momentarily next to him, crossing his arms. _It knows you don't like violence,_ he explained. _It won't show you this._

As though cued by Yami's words, the image seemed to fast forward a bit to another part of the island, where Sora stood, his sword still brandished, running down the dock to another part of the island where another boy stood. This boy, apparently someone Sora knew, stood solemnly, his eyes closed peacefully, yet his expression still stern. Silver hair whipped around his face as the winds of the storm swirled around him. Sora raced up behind him, but stopped part-way. "Where's Kairi?!" he cried frantically.

_Kairi,_ Yugi thought. _Must be another friend of his._

The other boy didn't seem to acknowledge Sora's cry. "The door has opened," he said simply.

"Wha…"

"The door has opened, Sora!" The boy repeated, turning around stiffly. "Now we can finally go to the outside world!"

"What are you talking about?!" Sora demanded. "We've gatta find-"

"She's coming with us!"

Sora recoiled, teeth gritted, staring at his friend in a mixture of anger and disbelief. Yugi was quick to notice this. _Something's wrong with that boy,_ Yami muttered. _But what does he mean by "outside world"…?_

"Once we step through the door," the silver-haired boy said, "We may not be able to return, so there's no turning back…"

"But Riku, what if-"

The boy, now known as Riku, shook his head vehemently. "Sora, we can't let fear stop us! This is our only chance! _I'm not afraid of the darkness!_"

That instant, a blur of billowing darkness erupted from the ground, wrapping Riku in tendrils of black. Sora raced forward, fear etched in every feature of his face, only to have the darkness attack him as well. Regardless, he reached forward, the darkness enveloping everything around them. Soon, Yugi could see nothing. He began to call out, but Yami grabbed his shoulder. _We can't interfere,_ he said,_ Even if we wanted to. These are only his memories._

But even as the darkness began consuming everything, the two looked up and saw a light shining from where Sora had stood. It rapidly grew until they could no longer see.

Yugi's eyes snapped open. Once again, he sat in his bedroom, the Millennium Necklace in his hand, its glow just then fading. Sora still lay peacefully on the bed, but he was wincing somewhat, and the snoring from earlier was gone. Yugi gave a quiet sight in relief, and quietly put the necklace back into his duffel bag, zipping it up carefully. _What do you think that was, Yami?_ He asked quietly.

_The memory?_ The spirit asked. _It was definitely something important. I'm certain those monsters were the heartless in his story. Only by meeting them like that could he have told us so many details about them earlier tonight._

_But I still don't get something,_ Yugi said contemplatively. _We still don't know why that guy called him Roxas…and what was that light, anyway?_

Yami looked away sternly. _Whatever it was, he certainly didn't want us to know. When someone is asleep they have a sort of control over that sort of thing – albeit unconsciously – so he kept us from finding out without knowing it._

Yugi did not reply, but instead looked at his new friend's sleeping face. It certainly wasn't as peaceful as before. Yami was right…whatever that light was, Sora didn't want them to know about it.

* * *

The next morning, Yugi was the first to wake up. After quickly getting dressed, he came back to notice Sora (whom had not changed clothes since their arrival, but was somehow still clean) still sprawled across the bed and had to drag him out of it before the boy would finally wake up.

_He sleeps harder than Jounouchi on a good day,_ Yami commented, causing Yugi to snicker aloud. This earned him a curious glance from Sora, but thankfully the boy dismissed the matter before Yugi had to come up with an excuse.

"What're you planning on doing now?" Yugi asked over breakfast. "There's not very much to see in Domino City unless you want to run around KaibaLand."

"KaibaLand?" Sora asked. "That some sort of amusement park?"

"Sort of," Yugi replied a bit solemnly, his eyes narrowing a bit as he remembered the events of Death-T. "I never go there. It's not as great as people say it is, but then again it might be just me."

"Oh," was all Sora replied with once he swallowed another bite of pancakes. "Well, I'm actually supposed to be looking for someone, but I've had no luck yet."

"Who are you supposed to find?" Yugi asked.

Sora just shook his head. "To be honest, I have no clue. The guy that told me to find whoever it was I'm looking for didn't even say who it was supposed to be. I'm basically running around in the dark."

The conversation eventually shifted to Duel Monsters. Sora, whom had heard only a bit about it the day before, had become interested in the game, and Yugi was more than happy to tell him about it – the basic rules, recent tournaments, and how Kaiba Corporation had developed some amazing technology to enhance the playing experience.

"It's really rare to see someone walking around without a deck," Yugi said, "Except if they're into other hobbies than the game. My friend Mokuba is more into Capsule Monster Chess, for one. Almost everyone else I know has their own deck."

"Maybe I should get myself one of those," Sora commented. "Even if I don't duel or anything, I wouldn't want to stick out like a sore thumb or anything."

Those words sparked a great feeling of glee in Yugi's mind. Yami must have felt it too, because he didn't hesitate in commenting on it. _Got another minion of yours interested?_

_Knock it off,_ Yugi replied. "Maybe later," he said. "Grandpa runs the shop into the evening, so when he closes up I'll see what I can do. In the meantime, how about I show you around town?"

"Sounds good to me," Sora replied, wolfing down the rest of his breakfast, eager to look around Domino City.

* * *

_Hmph. It's far too quiet for my taste…_

Larxene, known as the Savage Nymph to her friends, sneered from atop a skyscraper. The people walking abut below looked like ants from her point of view. Filthy insects that she would have much fun inflicting pain on. She did not do so, however, as she remembered what she was here for. She glanced at the card in her hand.

_Stupid kids,_ she grumbled. _If it weren't for those two, I'd already be having my fun with these measly bugs on the street…_

Then again, those kids _were_ the reason that she was here in the first place. They were the reason she was on this mission. The reason that she had been…_revived_… Besides, why worry about meaningless pests when she had two bigger pests to get rid of? She would never forget how wonderful it was to fight and inflict pain on them. She loved nothing more than that.

And if Yugi was as tough as their leader had told her, then this would be a fun fight indeed.

* * *

Nope...not quite peaceful enough. And yeah, for those of you that guessed it, say hello to Larxene...or _is_ that Larxene? Hmm...! Next chapter in the works.


	6. The Savage Nymph Appears

Another chapter in Yugi's point of view…sort of. The next one will have Sora's thoughts and whatnot, I promise. A few semi-spoilers for _Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories_ here.

Disclaimer: _Yu-Gi-Oh!_ is owned by Kazuki Takahashi. _Kingdom Hearts_ is owned by Tetsuya Nomura and all that.

* * *

**Duel Disks and Keyblades**

**By FlikFreak**

**Chapter Six: The Savage Nymph Appears**

* * *

Yugi was very pleased to see that Sora had taken a liking to Domino City. The town wasn't exactly the most peaceful, what with the thugs and bullies running around, but it was still his home and he loved it. It was also great fun to point out the many different places; something he hadn't done since Bakura transferred into his class a long time ago. Even better was the fact that Jounouchi had caught up with them when they neared the school, which Yugi gladly pointed out.

"That's the school I go to," Yugi said, pointing to Domino High as they passed it. The main building – as well as its clocktower – was still in good condition, and the gym was full of activity, even though it was summertime. "There's a few bullies that go there, but they haven't bothered anyone in the past year or so."

Yami snorted in mock disappointment. _That's because I've dealt with them, you know that._

"How come they don't bother people anymore?" Sora asked.

"Well," Yugi began with a ghost-story-telling voice, "Strange things have happened to a few of them. One of them had his gang beat up Jounouchi, and the next morning they found him trembling in terror in front of the school, like a ghost had tortured him or something."

"That reminds me," Jounouchi began, "Have you heard anything about Chouno, or is she still having _facial problems_?"

Yami grinned at Jounouchi's comment. Chouno was one of the most ruthless and most convincing teachers among the faculty, and almost made the rules in Domino High so harsh that it could have passed for a private school. One time, she had threatened to expel some of the students, and Yami had punished her by causing her makeup to falter whenever she mistreated a student. Yugi laughed. "No, I haven't heard anything new about her."

Sora cocked an eyebrow, but didn't say anything.

"Over there is Burger World," Jounouchi said, pointing out the said restaurant. "Anzu used to work there. A while ago a huge incident took place there with an escaped convict, but he got drunk and hallucinated that his body had been set on fire and got arrested. Yugi and I were there for that one, weren't we?"

Yugi nodded. "Yeah. It was pretty scary, but we made it out okay."

"Sounds like this town can be pretty chaotic," Sora commented. "It's a lot different from where I live."

_I'll bet it is,_ Yami said somewhat darkly. _An island like the one we saw couldn't have been too terribly lively._

"It can get hectic sometimes," Jounouchi said, chuckling. "Games are a huge attraction here, though. Arcade games, tournaments…you name it. When Battle City was going on, people crowded the streets just to get a glimpse of a duel."

"Didn't you mention that tournament yesterday, Jounouchi?" Sora asked. "You said you knew someone who won or something."

"Yep," Jounouchi replied. "We both competed in Battle City. Yugi won first prize."

"Whoa," Sora commented. "That's awesome, Yugi!"

"It has its ups and downs," Yugi replied sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck. "I might have won the honors and title and all, but I tend to have people challenging me all over the place to win the title from me. It's not exactly convenient."

The three had walked quite a ways in the midst of their conversation that they barely noticed that they had ended up in front of an enormous building, fronted with a statue of an enormous, vicious-looking dragon. Sora yelped momentarily and backed away. "What the-"

Yugi laughed. "Don't worry," he said, "It's just a statue."

Sora took a deep breath of relief. "It's pretty realistic for a statue. Where is this, anyway?"

Jounouchi and Yugi looked sternly at the tall building before them. "This is KaibaLand," Jounouchi explained. "Seto Kaiba built this place as an enormous arcade of sorts. There used to be a game show in it, but it's been modified recently and no longer runs."

"That's a shame," Sora said, tilting his head. "I like watching game shows."

_Whoever came up with "ignorance is bliss" wasn't far off the mark,_ Yami grumbled.

_I agree,_ Yugi replied, _But some good things came out of Death-T, you can't deny that._ He shrugged outwardly. "The game show in question wasn't a very wonderful one," he said, trying to sound as neutral as possible. "Seto Kaiba got rid of it, and it's been replaced with several dueling arenas, which people make good use of. Admission to KaibaLand is always free for kids and orphans, too."

"This Kaiba sounds like a nice guy," Sora said, grinning cheerfully.

"He's not," Jounounchi grumbled.

"Kaiba's not exactly the social butterfly," Yugi said, though being subtle about Kaiba's personality was a challenge even for him. "He's really stern and stubborn most of the time, and the only one he's ever really nice to is his little brother Mokuba."

"Figures," Sora muttered.

A sudden burst of screams tore through the peace. Lightning crashed to the ground, scattering people every which way. The three boys stayed in place as the people raced about, gazing about wildly. "What's going on?!" Jounouchi cried.

"I don't know!" Yugi shouted. "There aren't any thunderclouds in the sky!"

"I say we run," Sora suggested, but before the group could make a single step, several familiar-looking lights fell from the sky and locked them in place. Yugi and Jounouchi recognized it, but Sora pounded fiercely on the lights. "What's going on?! Why can't I move?"

"Swords of revealing light!" Yugi cried. "Someone's trying to hold us captive!"

"How right you are, _little_ Yugi!"

All three swiveled their attention to the now-empty courtyard behind them. There stood another cloaked figure, this one a bit shorter than the one previously encountered. As the figure threw the hood of the cloak back, they saw the face of a young woman sneering gleefully back at them, jade eyes narrowed. Blonde hair was styled smoothely, with two ends rising up and backward, similar to antennae. In both of her hands were a few bright yellow knives, laced between each her fingers.

Sora was the first to react. "The Organization!?"

"Nice to see you again, Sora," the woman said, her voice unbearably sweet-sounding, "Or should I say…Roxas?"

_Another one,_ Yami commented. _What do they want with him?_

_Whatever they want, it can't be good,_ Yugi replied, clenching his fists.

"I'm not Roxas," Sora growled threateningly. "Why are you here, Nobody?!"

"That's not my name," the woman said sarcastically, mocking a hurt expression. "Don't you remember your friend Larxene from your little escapade, dear Sora? Or did you…_forget_ about that?"

A single motion from the woman's hands and the luminous blades vanished. Sora narrowed his eyes and took a few steps forward. "I've about had it with you," he snarled. "Cut to the point and tell me what you want!"

"Easy," Larxene said, smiling broadly. "I've got special orders to take out you and the Pharaoh."

At this, Yugi took an awkward step back. How could this woman know about him and Yami?! Sora, however, hesitated. "…Pharaoh? What are you talking about?"

"It wouldn't be any fun if I told you right away," Larxene replied. "Besides, beating the living shot out of you is much more enjoyable."

Sora's eyes narrowed. "If you want a fight, you're ganna get one!" His hand reached forward as a light formed in front of him. Before Yugi could make out the shape, Sora swept it to the side. As the light faded, the object became clear. In Sora's hand was a sword-length object. Wrapped around his hand was a brilliant golden handle, off the end of it hanging a simple keychain with a charm composed of three spheres. Protruding from it was what should have been a blade, but was merely a sort of silver shaft. At the very end of it was an odd extension shaped like a crown that gave the entire weapon the appearance of…

_Yami,_ Yugi said as his eyes widened in realization, _That's the keyblade from Sora's story!_

* * *

Larxene versus Sora. Place your bets.

EDIT: I forgot to add the bit with the keychain. I'll also note, yes, there WILL be some Yami/Yugi action, and I'll do my best to make it some awesome fighting action. There will also be some drive and summon action from Sora, and of course more awesome Yami/Yugi stuff to add to that.


	7. Larxene

Spoilers for KH2 in here concerning Roxas and Organization 13.

Before we get started, I'd like to make a few notes. Yugi and Yami _will_ be getting action, as noted in the last chapter. There will be some summons done by Sora and perhaps some Drive Forms (which answers the question as to which outfit Sora is wearing, which would be his KH2 outfit). For Yugi and Yami, there _will_ be penalty games, mind crushing, and all the good stuff. They _will_ be fighting heartless and nobodies, but as to how, you'll have to see for yourself. If there's anything you guys wanna see, tell me! n.n Aside from that, the main villain will not be showing himself for a while

Also, my action scenes need work. At least that's what I think.

Disclaimer: _Yu-Gi-Oh!_ is owned by Kazuki Takahashi. _Kingdom Hearts_ is owned by Tetsuya Nomura and all that.

* * *

**Duel Disks and Keyblades**

**By FlikFreak**

**Chapter Seven: Larxene**

* * *

Sora had done his best to avoid not only letting out his secret, but also giving his location away to the heartless by summoning the Keyblade. Unfortunately, with Larxene backing him into a corner, he had no choice but to fight. For now, he had to worry about keeping everyone safe. He could answer questions later.

Larxene wasted no time in laying the first attack. Eight kunai raced his way, but with a deft and quick cry, a shield of light formed around him, absorbing the knives and hurling a wave of energy back at the offending warrior. Taking advantage of the moment that the woman was stunned, Sora raced forward, keyblade brandished. Larxene, however, chuckled, and vanished from sight.

_What the…_

Pain exploded from Sora's back, and the sound of crashing lightning could be heard as he skidded against the ground. In a desperate effort to regain himself, Sora scrambled to his feet while muttering a cure spell. While his effort succeeded, he found Larxene in front of him again once he had regained his composure.

"You don't fight like you used to, Sora!" She taunted. "I guess you've gotten a bit rusty since I last saw you!"

"I may not remember you like I should," Sora grumbled, "But I'm not about to lose!" With that, he leapt into the air, readying a strike when he felt a swift kick to his side, sending him crashing into the side of a nearby building. Thinking that another Organization groupie had snuck up on him, he looked up only to see a copy of Larxene readying another attack. _She's replicating herself?!_

Within the split second it took him to fall, Sora looked closely at what took place before him. Both of his opponents were able to attack and cause pain, meaning they had to be solid. Before in his adventures, he was able to get rid of copies with a single swing, but maybe…

Sora landed on the ground, preparing a strike when Larxene once again rushed at him. This time, however, he was prepared, and with a plan. As one of the clones charged him, he ran forward, just missing it, and grabbed her arm. "Let go of me!" Larxene protested loudly.

"Be careful what you ask for!" Sora replied, throwing her through the air into the other Larxene that opposed him. (1) The clone he threw vanished, leaving the real thing staggering on the ground momentarily. Sora took the opportunity to shoot a glance back at his friends. "Yugi! You and Jounouchi get out of here!"

"What about you?" Jounouchi protested.

"I'll be fine," Sora shot back. "Just get out of here before you get hurt!" With that, he refocused his attention on Larxene.

* * *

Yugi and Jounouchi ran quickly, but as they rounded the corner, they both stopped, turning their gaze back on the scene. "I knew he was keeping something from us," Jounouchi said, "But why? And why that?"

"We'll probably know once he's done here," Yugi answered, "But I'm not about to leave him there." He turned back to Jounouchi. "You head back to the shop and make sure no one in town gets hurt, alright? I'm ganna keep an eye on Sora."

"Are you nuts?" Jounouchi protested. "What if those _things_ show up again?"

Yugi threw a glance back to the woman and Sora fighting. "That person used Swords of Revealing Light on us. Whenever those things are nearby, I'm guessing that the monsters and spells in this game become real to an extent. Even if they're not, maybe just the sight of a monster will scare them off."

Jounouchi nodded, pulling his Duel Disk from his backpack and slipping in his deck. "I hope you know what you're doing, Yugi." With that, he ran off.

Quickly wishing his friend luck, Yugi turned around, peeking from around the corner of the building at the fight. _Do you think Sora will be okay?_ He asked Yami.

_Apparently he's met this woman before,_ the spirit replied. _He has a strong heart. I'm sure he'll be fine. If he gets in a fix, however, I will not hesitate to step in, do you understand?_

Yugi nodded, hoping it would not come to that.

* * *

Sora was reaching the limits of his stamina. He knew he couldn't keep up this fight for long; he had no means of utilizing Drive here, and he didn't even know if summoning would work either. He was alone in this fight, and Larxene wasn't making it easy on him.

"I'm through with you," the woman snarled, thoroughly disgusted with him. "You're such an eyesore…"

"Too bad _I'm_ not done yet," Sora replied, and leapt into the air. The air around the keyblade plummeted in temperature, and a shot of ice flew down from it and slammed into Larxene's gut. Another volley of shots flew down and pounded at her before Sora sent an enormous wave of icy wind her way. Shaken from the sudden chill, Larxene backed away, but did not take long to recover when she sent a wave of lightning to counter Sora's own attack. A cry of agony was heard from the boy as he was hurled through the air, skidding against the ground.

"You were saying?" Larxene taunted.

Sora grunted, pushing himself up off of the ground. "What do you want, anyway?"

The woman above him snorted in disgust. "Why should I tell you? You're nothing but a pest who's in our way."

"Then what about your precious Roxas?"

"That _idiot_ is a traitor whom deserves to fade," Larxene retorted, bending down and forcing Sora's chin up so she could look him in the eye. "I might have been part of the organization once, but Roxas was the first to leave. We never saw him since the day he left, and I got stuck with the stupid memory research team and had to deal with _you_ and your pathetic _friends_ instead of teaching that _brat_ what he should have learned when he left."

"Then why is everyone still calling me by his name?"

Larxene sighed, pressing the flat of a kunai against Sora's chin to discourage any cheap moves. "Well, since I'm about to kill you, I don't see any problem in telling you. Our new leader needs Roxas to finish up with his spiffy new plan. Once he's done, not only will this world belong to the _revived_ Organization, but we'll also have the wonderful little _assets_ that it's got for us. Of course, you and the stupid _Pharaoh_ are in our way, so we've just got to get rid of you, won't we?"

"Pharaoh?" Sora asked. "Who are you talking about?"

"Oh, I'm sure you've already met him by now," Larxene cooed. "Or maybe you haven't. He can only hide from everyone for so long, because once we find him and get rid of him..." She grinned, allowing Sora to imagine what would happen.

It was then that Sora's eyes widened in realization. Of course! Maybe this _pharaoh_ was who he was supposed to be looking for! But why the city? He was miles from Egypt, let alone a desert of any kind. "You..." He protested.

"But enough small talk," Larxene continued. "We won't have to worry about _you_ anymore, because I'll finish you right here and now!"

As the woman reared back one of her knife-laced fingers, Sora rolled to the side with great agility, and with a cry, he hurled the keyblade towards Larxene, whom had no time to defend herself as it slammed into her side. An anguished scream was heard from the woman as a dark and empty mist surrounded her, her form beginning to fade.

Sora stood upright. "Your time is _up_, Larxene."

Larxene just sneered at the boy. "You despicable little brat," she said with her last breath. "You can't…" The last bit of her statement was lost forever as she vanished.

With a sneer, Sora walked over to the keyblade and picked it up, moments later allowing it to vanish. As he turned and examined the area, he noticed a familiar face watching him, and he walked towards it.

"Are you okay, Sora?" Yugi asked.

Sora nodded. "I'll explain everything later. Let's get out of here before anyone else finds us."

* * *

Well...that was weird to write. Sora's got some explaining to do, and it looks like Yugi will as well.

(1) If you've played Kingdom Hearts II Final Mix, you'll probably recognize this. n.n


	8. Keyblade Revealed

Probably some spoilers here regarding Roxas again. I liked writing this bit, but it's annoying because there's no action again. Before we get started, though, lemme answer some reviews.

The Danvers Girls: To answer your question concerning Yugi and Yami, the answer will have to be both yes and no. For now, there won't be anything like that, but it WILL show up later, I guarantee you that. How it happens...may be surprising.

XxDawnxRiderxX: I KNOW! SHE IS SUCH A PAIN IN THE BUM! (grumbles something about spamming the A button) And if you listen to her voice, it really is inhumanely (not a typo) sweet sounding. It almost burns to listen to once you figure out she's out to rip you to pieces. As for how the summoning goes, well…you'll see XD

Disclaimer: _Yu-Gi-Oh!_ is owned by Kazuki Takahashi. _Kingdom Hearts_ is owned by Tetsuya Nomura and all that.

* * *

**Duel Disks and Keyblades**

**By FlikFreak**

**Chapter Eight: Keyblade Revealed**

* * *

Thankfully, the trip back to the game shop was peaceful compared to the battle Sora had just gotten finished with. Yugi had decided to keep quiet, which he was thankful for, and they headed straight for the boy's room once they reached their destination. Jounouchi was waiting, and Anzu had come back as well, looking thoroughly distressed when they entered.

"What happened?" the girl asked the moment the door opened. "Jounouchi told me you were in trouble…"

"I'm fine," Yugi said, smiling weakly. "Sora's the one I'm more worried about."

"Sora…?" Anzu turned her gaze to the boy that followed him into the room. "Oh, you're the boy we saw just yesterday in the shop!"

The spiky-haired brunette nodded. "Yeah, that's me."

"What happened to you?" the girl continued, apparently worried for him regardless of her familiarity with him. "You've got dirt and soot on you in a few places…"

"A lady in black attacked us," Yugi replied. "Sora managed to get rid of her, but I don't think this is the last we'll be seeing of them."

"It won't be," Sora replied, casually claiming a spot on the bed after dusting off his pants. "Organization XIII has thirteen members. That was one of them, and if I'm not wrong we'll be facing eleven more at most."

"I think you've got your math wrong," Jounouchi said. "If that lady is one, and there's eleven more, that only makes twelve. There should be one more."

"One of the members betrayed the organization and left," Sora said calmly, his voice lowering at the thought of it. "Roxas."

"But who exactly _is_ Roxas?" Yugi asked. "I know they keep calling you that, but…"

Sora shook his head. "I can't really explain that right now," he replied, "But I can probably tell you what I know about this." Calmly closing his eyes, Sora reached a hand in front of him, calling quietly upon a light within his heart. There was a brief few seconds of silence and peace as he felt a power rise within him, and a soft light shone in his hand as the Kingdom Key took shape from the light. Once the power was flowing smoothly, Sora clamped his hand on the handle of the blade and opened his eyes to see his three friends staring in awe.

"That's the keyblade from your story!" Jounouchi said in a half-whisper. "You never told us it was real!"

Anzu rolled her eyes. "In all honesty, Jounouchi, would you tell something like that to someone you _barely knew_?" She didn't give the boy a chance to answer, as she turned her gaze back to Sora. "What exactly is it?"

"It's the keyblade," Sora said quietly. "I found it…well, _it_ found _me_ when I first encountered these creatures called the heartless…the ones from the story. They feed off of the darkness in people's hearts, but when it comes to an actual world, they go after that world's heart and destroy it." There was a pause when everyone's eyes widened – especially Yugi's for some reason. "They're really afraid of the keyblade, so they constantly go after the heart of the one who wields it."

"So that's why you didn't show it to us earlier," Jounouchi said, slamming a fist into his hand as though figuring something out. "You didn't want those things showing up!"

"Yeah," Sora replied, nodding. "The keyblade is probably the only thing capable of really getting rid of things like heartless, so if they get rid of it nothing can stop them. It can do some other stuff too, but not much worth noting." Of course, Sora did refrain from mentioning that it could open (or close, in some cases) any lock or keyhole he came upon, but he doubted that would be too much use here. At least not yet.

"Is it okay if I look at it?" Yugi asked politely.

Sora noticed a small glint of curiosity in the boy's eyes, and nodded. Yugi was someone he could trust. "Sure." He tossed the keyblade to the boy at the desk lightly, and as awkward as it could have been, Yugi managed to catch it without harming himself or any of his nearby belongings.

The boy's wide, amethyst-colored eyes scanned the weapon slowly, as though he were looking for something, and he eventually tilted his head. "It doesn't _look_ powerful," he muttered, "But I can definitely _feel_ it…"

Nearby, Anzu shivered momentarily. "I sort of can, too," she said, glancing at the blade before looking back at Sora. "But you weren't walking around with it yesterday. Where was it?" Yugi put the blade down on his lap and nodded in agreement, finishing his examination.

Sora shrugged. "It's hard to explain. You can't see it, but you know it's there. I guess it's a matter of faith more than anything."

"Something you can see, yet it can't be seen?" Yugi suggested, earning odd grins from Jounouchi and Anzu.

"Something like that," Sora replied, nodding. "It's sort of got a mind of its own, too. When I first got it, someone told me that it _chose_ me. I'm still not sure how, but it basically means no one else can take it and use it as their own as long as I'm it's 'master,' so to speak."

"But Yugi's got it right now," Jounouchi pointed out. "He could run off with it if he really wanted to!"

"Jounouchi!" Yugi protested.

Sora grinned. "Actually, it's kind of difficult to run off with it."

"Why's that?" Anzu asked.

To answer her, the blade vanished in a small flash of light from Yugi's grasp, re-appearing in Sora's hand. The reaction from the three friends was somewhat amusing to the keyblade master, whom looked on in amusement at their shocked faces. Yugi's face, however, was the most exaggerated, possibly because he had been the one holding it moments before. "H-How did you do that?!" He cried.

Sora just shrugged. "Like I said, it's got a mind of its own."

Anzu, however, seemed somewhat contemplative. "But you said that those heartless things are always going after it," she wondered. "And they're afraid of it…why?"

"It's their most powerful enemy," Sora replied darkly. "But the heartless aren't the only ones after it. I've run into plenty of people and _things_ that want to get this thing off of me."

"Like that lady in the cloak?" Jounouchi suggested.

"Yeah…" Sora looked away, "Though they were just using me a long time ago…they don't have a way to do that anymore. I made sure of that. What bothers me is that they're back, and they're after not just me but some _Pharaoh_…"

There was a short silence, and Sora noticed his friends exchanging odd glances before Yugi finally spoke up. "Why would they want a pharaoh, and where would they find one? Egypt is a republic now. They aren't ruled by Pharaohs anymore."

"My guess is that it's just someone with that title," Sora replied, shaking his head. "Although, not long ago, I was told by someone to come here and look for someone. I think that Pharaoh person is who I'm supposed to find."

"You won't have to look too far," Jounouchi said, earning a sharp look from Yugi for some reason. Sora cocked an eyebrow curiously, and the blonde grinned, putting his hands behind his head casually. "Well, Yugi here's an ace at just about any game you throw at him. A simple round of hide and seek should be a sinch."

Sora had been around plenty of people that had hidden things from him, and it didn't take him long to catch on and figure out that Yugi was definitely hiding something from him. Instead of prying, however, he decided simply to play along for now. Soem things were better left unsaid, while others were better left unknown. Regardless of this fact, it was still pretty impressive to meet someone like Yugi. "Really?" He asked. "Must be convenient to have a talent like that."

Yugi grinned sheepishly. "I guess so," he replied. "It helps that I have friends to help me out though…"

Anzu glanced at her watch. "Well, if we're going to _find_ this pharaoh person, why don't we get to looking? After all, it's only two o'clock."

"Really?" Jounouchi asked, blinking. "Feels more like it should be evening…"

"That fiasco with Larxene didn't take _that_ long," Sora said, rolling his eyes, "But where would we even start looking?"

"How about a museum?" Yugi suggested after a brief silence (in which, Sora noticed, he had been oddly glancing to his left as though listening for something). "The local museum should be hosting an Egyptian exhibit this week. Even if we don't find this pharaoh person, we might get a lead."

Sora nodded. "Sounds good to me. Let's go."

* * *

Well, field trip to the local museum next chapter. We'll find out a bit more about the villains, especially their leader, and run into our favorite obscenely rich, dragon-obsessed CEO.

Also, tomorrow (July 27th) is my birthday. HUZZAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!


	9. Searching for Answers

There are minor spoilers for the Death-T arc and Kingdom Hearts. I'm also rather amused to note that this chapter may be a bit…shall we say…_puzzling_, hehehe. We will finally meet Kaiba in this chapter, by the way.

Also, it's my birthday today. Huzzah!

Disclaimer: _Yu-Gi-Oh!_ is owned by Kazuki Takahashi. _Kingdom Hearts_ is owned by Tetsuya Nomura and all that.

* * *

**Duel Disks and Keyblades**

**By FlikFreak**

**Chapter Nine: Searching for Answers  
**

* * *

_What exactly are you planning, Yugi?_

Yugi gave a glance up as he packed his backpack. Sora had gone to wash his face off, and though he had offered Sora some clean clothes, the boy had insisted on keeping the ones he had. Oddly enough, by the time they had finished conversing, Sora seemed perfectly clean, and he had dropped the issue. _I still don't know if we can trust Sora or not,_ he said, answering the spirit that stood next to him. _I mean, he's a nice guy and all, but when he mentioned Roxas he got kind of quiet._

_It's probably not a great memory for him,_ Yami replied, glancing toward the bathroom door where Sora was blindly reaching around for a towel. _But he does seem like a cheerful enough young man when it comes to anything else._

Yugi was about to answer when a mock-dramatic voice called out to him. "Yugi! Where are the towels? I've got soap in my eyes and I can't see!"

"Left of the sink," the boy replied, leaving Sora to work out the rest. _Maybe we shouldn't push it, _Yugi mused. _Besides, I was interested in seeing the exhibit anyway, and Sora did mention that he'd like to relax for once, even if we don't find anything._

Yami could barely be heard chuckling before he slunk back into the puzzle. Yugi strapped on his backpack and stood, stretching before Sora stumbled out of the bathroom, one of his eyes looking a bit red. "You never told me you had killer soap next to the sink," he whimpered.

_He certainly is an odd kid,_ Yami commented.

"Sorry about that," Yugi replied, grinning sheepishly and partially ignoring his partner's comment. "At any rate, Jounouchi and Anzu are already headed for the museum. We should get going."

Sora nodded. "Right."

"By the way," Yugi added as they headed out the door, "I saw you use some kind of shield when you were fighting that woman. Was that magic?"

There was a momentary hesitation, but Sora nodded. "Yeah. A friend of mine taught me some back when I first got the keyblade." He got a bit quiet after he said it, sounding a bit sad and nostalgic at the same time, but Yugi caught a smile on his face. "I've learned a bit more since then, among other things, but I try not to overdo it…"

"But that in particular was magic, right?"

"Yeah."

At the answer, Yugi took a deep breath, desperately suppressing a grin. "Oh, boy," he muttered. "Kaiba's ganna have a field day with you, Sora…"

Sora lifted an eyebrow. "Who's Kaiba?" He asked. "A friend of yours?"

"Sort of," Yugi answered, hearing Yami scowl quietly in his soul room. "He's more like my rival than anything. We do still look after each other in our own way, but he's kind of selfish and way too stubborn for his own good." Momentarily pausing, he noticed his shoe was untied and propped it against a nearby bench to fix the problem.

"He sounds rather charming," the keyblade master commented under his breath.

Yugi laughed. "You bet he is," he replied, sarcasm momentarily evident in his voice. "He insists that stuff like magic doesn't exist, even though it's constantly being shoved into his face at times."

"Does he walk around in an enormous white trench coat and carry a briefcase with him wherever he goes?" Sora asked.

Surprised at the somewhat accurate description, Yugi nodded. "Yeah, he does. Why do you ask?"

"He's standing right next to you."

Sure enough, when Yugi looked up, there stood Seto Kaiba himself, giving him the same look that he always did. If he hadn't known better he'd think Kaiba was glaring daggers at him, but fortunately he was familiar enough with him to know otherwise. "Hey, Kaiba," he said cheerfully.

"Yugi," Seto replied simply. "It's about time I caught up with you."

_Always rather blunt, isn't he…_ Yami grumbled. _I wonder what he wants now._

The young CEO turned his gaze to Sora, whom stood next to the boy. "Never thought I'd see you hanging out with a shrimp like him, though."

Sora was clearly insulted by this, and immediately protested with a clenched fist and a rather angry tone of voice. "Don't call me shrimp!" he yelled. "I have a name, and it's Sora!"

Kaiba gave a sort of snort as he turned away. "Quick on the introductions, aren't you?" he remarked. "I don't supposed you'd know anything about the moron that made such a mess in front of my building earlier today."

Both Yugi and Sora paused indefinitely, exchanging glances. They both knew exactly what was going on, but they weren't about to let up. "What do you mean, made a mess?" Sora echoed.

"Some idiot thought that scaring off people in front of KaibaLand was an amusing pastime," Kaiba continued, eyeing Sora momentarily. "And she wound up picking a fight with someone to add to the damage."

"Do you know anything about that woman?" Yugi asked.

Kaiba rolled his eyes. "What do I look like, an information source? I have a company to run, not an encyclopedia to write. I was going to ask _you_ if you knew anything."

Sora nodded. "Her name was Larxene, and she's part of a group called Organization XIII."

"Pleasant," Seto remarked. "Anything else?"

"There should be at most eleven others like her running around," Sora said, eyes darkening in what could only be hatred toward that group. "They're a lot more dangerous than they appear, and if you see anyone like that people should leave the area immediately. They're easy to recognize since they've all got black cloaks."

Kaiba groaned. "Great. First I have some lunatic barge into my office this morning, now I have to deal with the rare hunters again?!"

"These guys are a lot more dangerous than the rare hunters," Yugi said. "A _lot_ more."

Sora nodded firmly in agreement. Seeing this, the CEO groaned. "Fine. I'll do what I can. If this ends up being bogus, however, you'll never hear the end of it from me." With that, the man walked firmly away.

Once he was out of earshot, Sora groaned. "Is he _always_ like that?" he asked.

"He was nice once," Yugi replied, sighing. "But there was a kind of harsh turn of events at some point in his life that he's never been able to cope with, so he's not exactly a social person anymore."

"I see," Sora said, hanging his head a bit. With that, the two continued to the museum.

* * *

The moment they entered the doors to the museum, Sora took notice of Yugi's sudden sense of peace. The boy tended to be a tad high-strung on the streets – especially when there was a crowd nearby – but here he just seemed to be happy and quiet. "I take it you like it here?" He asked carefully.

"Yeah," Yugi replied. "I always liked looking at the Egyptian artifact displays, but it's always quiet in a museum compared to outside. Besides, people tend to challenge me to duels a lot, but they wouldn't come in here looking for me."

Sora smiled at the boy's sentiment. At his own home on Destiny Islands, he had enough of a hard time sparring out in the sun on the beach or on the small island he and Riku frequented, but there was always one place that he knew he could go where he knew he'd be safe. The cave near the waterfall – with an opening just large enough to crawl through – was where he and his friends went when they just wanted some peace. Drawings covered the stone walls there, including one that he and Kairi had drawn of each other. It was so ironic to him that such a peaceful place could end up being the start of so much chaos…

"Erm…Sora?"

The keyblade master snapped out of his daze, glancing at Yugi. "Something wrong?"

The boy shook his head. "No. You just got this faraway look in your eyes…I was wondering if you were alright."

Sora nodded. "Yeah…I'm fine."

Yugi nodded reluctantly, and the two walked forward past the welcome desk, where Yugi quickly paid their entrance fee with a few coins that Sora didn't recognize (he had plenty of munny with him, but he had quickly found out by glancing at one of the sales in the game shop that such a currency wasn't accepted here). Sora felt guilty about having Yugi pay for him, but the boy just brushed it off and they kept walking until they found a small display of various pieces of old, golden jewelry and masks. Behind it was a wall display of a papyrus scroll. Sora quickly showed interest in this, and Yugi eagerly explained.

"Well, the large set of scales there was a tool used to weigh the sins of the dead against the feather of truth. If they weighed more, the victim would be devoured by the demon, Ammit."

"Sounds harsh," Sora commented, chills running down his spine.

"It is," Yugi replied. "The set of scales in that picture is supposedly one of the Millennium Items."

"A set of scales?" Sora questioned. "You serious?"

Yugi nodded. "One of the seven. When the Millennium Items were made, great sacrifice was also endured to create them. Without sacrifice, the power becomes corrupt. An item was once made like that, but luckily it's been destroyed…" His voice trailed off.

Sora decided not to pry into this, and looked on, enjoying the peace for once. He moved past the mural of the Judgment of the Dead and ended up standing in front of a large stone tablet. Depicted on it were countless hieroglyphics, and in the center of what was apparently a shining light lay a triangular object that Sora could closely identify with Yugi's pendant…or puzzle, as the boy called it. Around the object were three rectangular tablets, in which were powerful beasts that he didn't recognize. Moving downward, Sora saw a depiction of a powerful face-off between what was some sort of magician and a dragon, below which were two more people. The one on the left was someone he didn't recognize right off the bat, but the one on the right was another story.

He looked almost exactly like Yugi.

_But if it looks so much like someone in the present,_ he wondered, _why would a depiction of this sort of thing be in a museum?_ After a moment of thought, Sora shrugged inwardly, eyes still locked onto the tablet. Perhaps Yugi had gotten the nickname "Pharaoh" from the tablet. After all, his doppelganger in this thing certainly looked dressed like a king.

It didn't take long for Sora's thoughts to wander. Maybe…maybe it had something to do with Yugi's puzzle. After all, that was depicted in the tablet too. Maybe he'd have to ask Yugi about it. As he turned to find his friend, however, he felt a sharp pain in his chest and he doubled over, crying out.

Yugi spun around, running toward him. "Sora! What's wrong?"

The keyblade master was unable to answer. His heart throbbed; he could hear it pounding in his ears. A sudden cold sweat rolled down his brow as darkness closed in around him. Yugi's face eventually became a multi-colored blur, his voice a far-off echo. Eventually, he lost all contact with the world around him. He slumped to the ground, unconscious.

* * *

"Do you think Yugi will tell Sora about the Pharaoh?" Anzu asked as she paid the entrance fee to the museum.

Jounouchi walked next to her and tossed a few coins unceremoniously at the desk. "Maybe," he replied. "Not sure how Sora's ganna take it though. It's not easy explaining that Yugi has a two-for-the-price-of-one deal going on." There was a slight pause and Jounouchi cocked an eyebrow in thought. "Now that I think about it…how did _we_ end up figuring out about it?"

"Death-T," Anzu said quietly, "Remember?"

"Right," the blonde replied. The two had a moment of silence before they finally arrived at the Egyptian exhibit, only to see Yugi kneeling on the floor over a limp, lifeless Sora. The two rushed over immediately. "What happened?" Jounouchi demanded, quickly examining Sora. His eyes were squeezed shut, and he trembled every few moments, almost in rhythm.

Yugi shook his head. "I don't know!" He said. "He was looking at that tablet and just went into some sort of seizure!" He gestured to the said object behind them, which only earned a moment's glance from everyone before they returned their attention to the keyblade master.

"He's still breathing," Anzu said as she slipped two fingers just beneath his jawbone. "But his heart is beating faster than it should. Other than that, he seems fine."

"We should probably get him somewhere to rest," Jounouchi suggested, hauling the boy's arm over one of his shoulders and pulling him up. "Does Yami have any ideas on this?"

At the mention of their friend, Yugi paused a moment, and shook his head. "He said he doesn't know what caused it, but he sounds kind of distracted."

"Distracted?" Anzu echoed.

Yugi nodded. "Yeah. I think something's wrong in the puzzle."

* * *

Okay, so I didn't reveal the main villain this time. But all in due time, my dear readers! As for what's happened to Sora...you'll see.


	10. Welcome to my Chamber

Okay, I lied. I didn't reveal the villain in this chapter either. He'll show up soon, I promise! Now them, time to answer some reviews before we get started! Let's see here…

SilverDragon-Purity: I wholeheartedly agree. That guy was such a jerk; I'm glad they could take him down. The villain for this fic, however, may surprise you. Or maybe it won't. We'll see.

XxDawnxRiderxX: Actually, I was planning on something along the lines of that! Let's see what I can whip up…

The Danvers Girls: Read on, and you shall see! n.n

Disclaimer: _Yu-Gi-Oh!_ is owned by Kazuki Takahashi. _Kingdom Hearts_ is owned by Tetsuya Nomura and all that.

* * *

**Duel Disks and Keyblades**

**By FlikFreak**

**Chapter Ten: Welcome to my Chamber**

* * *

Sora's mind felt numb for a moment, and his senses went dead briefly before he could regain himself. In a moment of horror, he feared that the world was vanishing, but instead, he felt that it was still in one piece…but he was somewhere different now. He could feel it.

The first of his senses that returned – other than his sixth sense that he had developed over the years battling heartless and nobodies – was the one that told him that this place was rather cold. It reminded him of the first time he had set foot in the night-fallen Traverse Town after his home had been destroyed. For some reason, there was an odd _weight_ on his back, like someone had stuck a heavy backpack on him. Sora eventually regained himself completely, listening intently for the sound of people, animals, wildlife, or anything else that he could recognize. The only sound he could hear was the mysterious humming that he recognized from a cave or a stone corridor. As he cracked open his eyes, however, he was finally able to make out where he was.

The place was enormous, filled with stairways, doors and passages. He had been stuck in a never-ending labyrinth, made entirely of some form of stone. It was amazing enough that Sora was even able to see; there were no lanterns or torches. The light to view the surroundings was just _there_.

Exhausted, Sora felt himself drifting off when the weight on his back vanished. A soft, high-pitched purr of sorts reached his ears and something – something incredibly _fluffy_ – pushed up against his cheek. Reluctantly, Sora sat up, rubbing his eyes and groaning in protest. Wherever he was, he wasn't alone, but at least whatever was there hadn't killed him. Why it had chosen to sit on his back was beyond him. Mumbling to himself, he turned to the one whom had awakened him.

The creature looked far from threatening. It was basically a big, brown furball about the size of Sora's own head (though with all that fur, its actual body was probably smaller). It had four little green legs, each with a set of yellow claws, and two big, curious eyes peeked out from underneath the mass of fur. It was probably the most adorable thing Sora had seen since he first saw a moogle in Traverse Town.

"Well," Sora said upon looking at it. "At least you're not a heartless."

The beast in question bobbed up and down in the air, squealing happily. Sora chuckled at its antics and patted it on the head. "Think you can tell me where we are?" He asked. The creature just blinked quietly, and Sora propped up one knee. "I guess not," he said. "But I know I'm not supposed to be here. Think you can show me the way out?"

In response, the creature purred and bounced into the air, heading down a nearby corridor. Sora scrambled to his feet and ran after it. "H-Hey, wait up!"

* * *

Yugi stared on as Sora lay peacefully on the couch. The curator of the museum was friends with his grandfather, and had allowed them to use one of the empty offices for helping their new friend. The boy was still trembling, but it had ebbed quite a bit, as had his heart rate, but he had still not awoken. Jounouchi was down getting some water, while Anzu sat by the couch the way she always did, but did not speak. Yami still seemed a bit distracted, but was able to tell Yugi what was going on.

_I've sent Dark Magician to seek out the problem,_ the spirit told him. _Apparently someone's trespassed into the puzzle._

_Again?_ Yugi responded. _You don't think it's Shadi, do you?_

Yami shook his head. _No. He goes into our soul rooms, not directly to the puzzle. What bothers me is Dark Magician Girl and Kuriboh are nowhere to be found._

Yugi blinked momentarily. _Why not?_

_I'm not entirely sure,_ Yami replied. _Kuriboh was already gone by the time I found out what the problem was…you know him, he could practically summon himself if he really wanted to…but Dark Magician Girl seemed worried when I told her what happened. Before I came back to speak with you, she mentioned Kuriboh and left right away. I assume she's going to go find him._

_Will she make it?_ Yugi asked. He had been somewhat fond of the Dark Magician Girl ever since he was first introduced to her

_I'd be surprised if she didn't,_ the spirit responded. _Regardless, I'd suggest you stay out here and keep an eye on Sora rather than coming in and helping. I don't think it would do for your friend to wake up and find that you're unconscious as well._

_You have a good point…_

* * *

This creature – whatever it was – was incredibly fast for its size. Sora had broken into a sprint at one point just to keep up with it, but he was still thankful that it knew the way out this place, wherever it was. The keyblade master had developed a sort of sense for knowing when he was supposed to be leaving somewhere, and he was pretty sure that now was one of those times. As they rounded a corner, however, the creature came to an abrupt halt and squealed, rushing behind Sora in fright. Concerned, Sora turned around and cocked his head. "What's the matter?" He asked, stroking its fur. It only shuddered, hovering in the air, hiding behind Sora.

Deciding that it would be easier to see for himself, Sora turned around to see a person confronting him with a furious glare. The man wore an odd violet suit that seemed to be a mixture of a set of robes and a suit of armor. The man's hair barely showed through the helm he wore, and dark, jade eyes glared fiercely at him. In his hand was a jade-colored staff, in which rested an emerald gem that Sora knew had to possess some terrible power. Overall, this man looked angry, but Sora decided not to jump to conclusions. "Who are you?" he asked.

The man's eyes narrowed. "I would ask the same of you," he demanded. "You should not be here."

"What are you talking about?" Sora answered. "I don't even know where _here_ is! I was trying to find the way out, but-"

"You are a trespasser," the man interrupted, eyes narrowing. "A trespasser in the realm of my master. I cannot forgive those that do such dishonorable deeds." He raised his staff. "I will banish you here and now!"

* * *

I'm giving you three guesses who that is and the first two don't count. Yes, this chapter might have been rather confusing, but it'll clear up. And no, I can't write anything Yugioh-related without putting Kuriboh in there. He's just so unbearably cute! n.n


	11. To Escape a Labyrinth

In which Sora defends himself and more explanations and chaos follow.

Disclaimer: _Yu-Gi-Oh!_ is owned by Kazuki Takahashi. _Kingdom Hearts_ is owned by Tetsuya Nomura and all that.

* * *

**Duel Disks and Keyblades**

**By FlikFreak**

**Chapter Eleven: To Escape a Labyrinth  
**

* * *

Sora didn't like this. At all. He didn't know where he was, he knew he wasn't supposed to be here, and he didn't even know the way out. To top it off, some living furball had led him down a corridor, only to be met by a very angry magician. He hadn't felt this much guilt and fear since he flubbed a fire spell on Donald's tail feathers.

A blast of light smashed into Sora's side, sending him skidding along the corridor. The fluff ball that had escorted him wailed in fright and raced behind a nearby corner to hide. Sora took a while to regain his footing, but when he did the keyblade was out in a flash.

"So you're going to fight, then?" the magician said, sneering.

"No!" Sora cried. "I don't want to fight you; I just want to know where I am!"

The keyblade master received an answer in the form of a slash from the staff. Thankfully, the years of training with the keyblade as well as sparring at home had honed his skills for this, and Sora was able to block the strike, knocking the magician back. He grinned inwardly and backed away, readying a thunder spell…

…and was met with an eerie blast of the stranger's own magic.

For a moment the world seemed inverted to Sora's eyes, and he flew backward, slamming into the wall behind him. He slumped to the ground, a dark energy crackling over his limbs in the aftermath of the attack. The furball nearby squealed and raced for him, nudging him and urging him to stand. Sora did…albeit slowly…and instead used his magic for a cure spell instead.

"You will regret drawing this out," the man said, raising his staff and pointing it directly at Sora's chest. "I will rid you of this labyrinth here and now."

The emerald gem on the man's staff began to glow fiercely, and Sora shielded his eyes as a black light began to fill his vision. He could already feel the wracking pain as it neared him.

"Stop!"

* * *

Yugi and Anzu looked on in concern. Sora had tightly shut his eyes, and his breathing had become somewhat labored. The shivering didn't decrease by much, and now his fingers were twitching.

"What's wrong with him?" Anzu asked. "He looks like he's having a nightmare."

"Probably not far off," Yugi replied quietly. "I'm sure he'll be okay. If he can take that Larxene person down, this shouldn't be too hard for him." _Yami, how is it in there?_

The boy was met with a somewhat surprised reply. _Dark Magician found the intruder, but he's been intercepted._

_Intercepted?_

_Yes…apparently the intruder defended himself – poorly, I should note – but apparently someone stopped him from attacking. I went to check out why, and I recognized the intruder._

Yugi bit his lip. _Who is it?_

_He's lying right in front of you._

* * *

The light vanished, and Sora cracked open his eyelids to see someone standing before him. It was a girl – a very _nice_ looking girl – wearing a similar outfit to the man that had threatened him, only rather than violet it was a beautiful sky-blue hue, with an odd pink mini-skirt rather than a robe. The staff she wielded was much shorter, less than half the length of the man's, and was tinted the same blue hue as her outfit, tipped in gold. Blonde hair swept behind her, and in spite of her strongly feminine appearance, her stance was strongly defiant, arms spread in front of Sora as though protecting him.

The man blinked at the girl's arrival. "Step aside. This young man is an intruder. I was sent by our master to-"

"Can't you tell that he's just a bit lost?" The girl interrupted, shocking the man. "He doesn't have any idea where he is! He's _innocent_!"

"You know what my orders are," the man replied sharply. "Besides, how to we know this boy isn't with that cloaked man that ended up here last time?"

Sora's eyes widened at the mention of the cloaked man. _No way…what would the Organization want with this labyrinth?!_

"I won't let you hurt him!" The girl insisted. "Can't you tell he means no harm? Kuriboh went through all the trouble of trying to help him get back out and all you've managed to do is beat him up!" The man seemed to hesitate at this, and the girl took her cue. "I'll take care of this. He just wants to go back to where he came from, and I'll help him do that."

There was an odd pause where Sora and the little fluff ball peeked from behind the girl, noting that the man was examining them closely with narrowed eyes. With a nod, he turned back to the girl. "Very well." With that, he vanished.

The girl turned around, greeted immediately by the little furball nuzzling her. "Great job, Kuriboh! I knew you were on track!"

"Kuriboh?" Sora asked. "It's got a name?"

The said ball of fluff gave a cheerful _kuri_ and flew a few circles around Sora. The girl watched, giggling. "We all have names," She said. "The guy who just left was Dark Magician. He's master's favorite, but master still gives us all good treatment."

Sora grinned. "Well, whoever this guy is, could you tell me? And once I know that, I need to get out of here. I don't want to stay any longer than I should."

The girl nodded. "Okay." She turned to Kuriboh. "Kuriboh, could you go outside and tell Yugi that we're okay? I'll show Sora the way out of here."

Kuriboh bobbed accordingly, looking a bit regretful to leave his new friend, and nuzzled Sora one more time before soaring off. Before he could turn back and ask the girl anything, she had already grabbed his wrist and pulled him down the corridor to get him walking. "Our master has told us about you," she said enthusiastically. "He really likes you. It's been a while since he's met a new friend, but he worries about you."

"He does?" Sora asked, assuming she meant Yugi. If she _did_ mean him, though, how would this all fit in…?

The girl halted abruptly, rubbing the side of her head sheepishly. "I haven't introduced myself yet, have I?" she said. "I'm Dark Magician Girl. It's nice to meet you."

"It's nice to meet you too," Sora replied. "I'm Sora. Thanks for helping me out back there. I didn't want to push my luck, but that guy didn't really leave me much of a choice…"

"Don't mind him," Dark Magician Girl said, continuing down the corridor. "He's always pretty stern about those things. Pharaoh trusts Dark Magician a whole lot, but I really think he needs to lighten up. He's a great mentor, but he's such a _stiff_ at times if you ask me…"

This time, it was Sora that paused. "Pharaoh?" He said.

"Yeah," the girl said. "You don't know?"

Sora shook his head. "About what? I know I'm supposed to find someone that's called that, but I haven't been able to find him anywhere. I don't even know what he looks like"

Dark Magician Girl laughed quietly as they continued. "Well, Pharaoh doesn't really like to show himself around people he doesn't know very well. He'll come out if he really has to, but he doesn't like to without permission or anything."

"But you know him?" Sora continued. "And you know Yugi, too?"

The girl suddenly clamped a hand over her mouth. "Oops…"

"What's wrong?"

"I don't think Yugi wanted you knowing about Pharaoh yet," she said sheepishly.

Sora blinked. So Yugi knew about this Pharaoh person. Why hadn't he told him earlier? "Why not?"

"Well, I guess I can tell you that, at least," Dark Magician Girl said, continuing to walk alongside Sora, but looking considerably guilty. "Yugi was really worried about you. He's a great judge on someone's character, even if he's just met them, and he knew you were hiding stuff from them, like the keyblade. In the past he's met several people that hid stuff from him, and they all wound up in a huge fix when they found out about Pharaoh…"

"So he didn't want me getting hurt?" Sora asked, feeling relieved. At least Yugi wasn't an enemy in that case; he hated it when people hid stuff from him - especially people he considered friends - but Yugi had a valid reason, and he respected that.

"That, and he's already got to deal with the constant challenges he gets," the girl replied, shaking her head. "The Museum and game shop are the only places he can find real peace. I feel kind of sorry for him since he doesn't get to relax like he used to before he solved the puzzle…"

Sora took a close look at the girl's expression. She really seemed to mean what she said. Her eyes were cast low and her shoulders slumped a bit at the mention of Yugi being pestered constantly. "I can't say I know what it's like to be famous," he said quietly. "I'm more of a stranger to most people I meet, but most people that already know my name end up being my enemies and send monsters after me."

"That doesn't sound very nice of them," Dark Magician Girl commented, looking quite miffed.

"It's not," Sora replied, laughing. _But I'm used to it. I used to spar with my best friend at home, so fighting isn't too new to me. I wonder how he's doing...  
_

"Oh, look! We're here!"

Sora snapped out of his thoughts to find a doorway in front of him. Dark Magician Girl nodded at it. "This is the way out, Sora. Once you step through here you'll be back to where you're supposed to be."

"Thanks," the keyblade master replied. "I don't know what I would have done without you and Kuriboh."

The young mage blushed at his words. "You're welcome," she responded. "By the way…" She leaned in closely. "Don't tell anyone I told you about Pharaoh, okay? If you mention it, don't mention me. I don't want to get in trouble."

"I won't," the keyblade master responded. "If I do bring it up, I won't say a word."

"Thanks!" Dark Magician girl replied. "Take care out there, okay?"

Sora nodded. "I will," he said, pushing the door open. A bright light flooded his vision as he walked through.

* * *

It took a while to adjust to his surroundings again, but Sora managed within a few moments. He was…very comfortable. It took him a moment to realize he was lying on a couch with a pillow propped under his head. Above him sat a very worried-looking Anzu, and to the side was Yugi, a similar expression on his own face. When he finally had his eyes open, however, their worries seemed relieved. "Are you okay, Sora?" was the first question asked, from none other than Anzu.

"I'm glad I am," Sora replied, sitting up and stretching. "Are we still at the museum?"

"Yeah." This reply came from Yugi. "The curator is friends with my grandpa, so he let us use a spare office until you woke up."

Sora rubbed his head guiltily. He just wanted to visit the museum and he had ended up worrying everyone. "Sorry about that," he muttered. "I was just looking at that tablet and next think I knew…"

"What happened there, anyway?" Yugi asked. "You kept twitching while you were unconscious."

"I don't know," Sora replied. "Something kind of stung, and my head started hurting. I'm not sure what it was, but when I woke up I was in this huge maze full of doors…"

Anzu and Yugi exchanged glances.

"By the way," Sora continued, quick to notice their reaction, "I've been meaning to ask you something, Yugi." He paused a moment as the boy returned his attention to the keyblade master. "Do you happen to know anything abo-"

A burst of screams cut Sora off in mid-sentence. The three in the room instantly raced to the window to see what the problem was, and were horrified at the sight: There was a hoarde of nobodies in the town square, and there was another cloaked man among them.

In his hands was a wickedly-curved scythe.

* * *

_Geimu no Jikan Da_, anyone?


	12. The Graceful Assassin Strikes

Before we get started here (YAY! Another boss fight!), I'm going to answer a few questions.

**OMG! hoo iz teh villainz?** I can't reveal that yet, but I'll give you a hint. He's not from Kingdom Hearts II (which means he's from Yugioh, of course).

**Wait a minute; I thought Sora already took care of Organization XIII!** Trust me, Sora thought so to. He _did_ get rid of them, but now they're back. Why? That will be revealed soon enough.

**But if he's fighting the members themselves then...is the _entire Organization_ going to show up? **I'm still pondering that. I'm not going to have every single one of them show up for certain reasons – mainly I don't want to draw this out for too long, that would make this thing take forever to complete – but I assure you that a certain few are already guaranteed an appearance…especially our favorite chakram-wielding pyromaniac.

**Dude, what was the deal with Sora getting yoinked into the puzzle?** I can't reveal that just yet, but I will tell you that it won't be the last time something like that happens.

**What about Drive forms and Summons?** Guaranteed appearance. Drives are iffy right now – though if anyone has any ideas, lay them on me – and summons will be kinda mish-moshed from the previous games. I can guarantee that Stitch will be appearing though.

Now that the questions are out of the way…semi spoilers for KH:CoM in this chapter, so beware. Also, Yami.

Disclaimer: _Yu-Gi-Oh!_ is owned by Kazuki Takahashi. _Kingdom Hearts_ is owned by Tetsuya Nomura and all that.

* * *

**Duel Disks and Keyblades**

**By FlikFreak**

**Chapter Twelve: The Graceful Assassin Strikes**

* * *

"Dusks," Sora growled angrily, "And Organization XIII to boot…"

"You ganna go out there and fix it up?" Yugi asked.

Sora nodded confidently, opening the window. "Yeah. I dunno if I can do it on my own, but I have to do what I can." Inside, however, he was thoroughly worried. _I can't use Drive here as far as I know,_ he mumbled to himself. _I might be able to summon, but that's risky…unless…_ "Could you guys stand back for a second?"

Yugi and Anzu did step back, though they seemed wary. Sora summoned the keyblade, and closed his eyes, mentally reaching into his heart for a familiar power.

_Give me strength!_

The room darkened suddenly, and a wave of light surrounded Sora momentarily. His hands began to move on their own accord. He spun the keyblade in front of him by the handle, stopping it just as it pointed upward, and turned it. A bright light erupted from the tip, spiraling down the blade before it took shape at the bottom, fluttering next to Sora's head before it could be seen clearly: it was a tiny, green-clothed fairy.

Yugi was absolutely stunned by this. "What the…what is…how did you…"

Sora just grinned. "This is Tinkerbell," he said cheerfully. "Tinkerbell, this is Yugi and Anzu." The fairy fluttered up to them, looking them each closely before zipping over to the window. After quickly taking in the scenery from outside, she turned back and cried out something to Sora, though instead of words a few jingling noises came from her. "I know," Sora replied, not understanding her but knowing what she was upset about. "I need you to do me a favor. Make sure any townsfolk you meet are safely out of harm's way. If they aren't, do what you can to get them out of there safely." The fairy nodded, zipping out of the window. Sora turned back to his friends. "I'm going to go see what I can do down there. You two stay here. I can't have you getting hurt."

"No," Yugi said in reply. "I'm going too."

If anything shocked Sora, it was something like this. He shook his head. "I can't let you," he said. "You'll get hurt."

Yugi wouldn't have it. "I'm not going to stand by and watch you get hurt, either. I have my own ways of fighting, so I'm coming whether you like it or not." In one swift motion, he whipped out of his backpack what Sora recognized as a duel disk, slipping a deck of cards into the center, but not turning the device on. "I'm following right behind you. Don't worry about me."

Sora knew that the boy wasn't about to listen to any further demands, and simply nodded, leaping nimbly out the window. The numerous Dusks swarming the area swiveled their attention to him, and he wasted no time in slicing cleanly through them on his way to the center. Behind him, he heard the sound of Yugi's duel disk booting up, but thankfully he had no need to worry about the boy being attacked; he left no enemy in his path alive.

* * *

"The _Graceful Assassin_ has been sent out, sir."

The darkness-cloaked figure grinned. "Good work. His improved power may be able to take down both the Keyblade Master and the accursed _Pharaoh_. If that fails, I have a special surprise waiting for them."

The man in the cloak looked up, his eyes narrowed. "Number…eight, sir?"

"Yes."

"But sir, it may be too risky. The Keyblade Master knows him! If he notices him acting odd, then he will know something is amiss!"

The man's superior nodded. "That is precisely what we need. Throw him off guard, and then he will be struck down by his own hesitation."

"It is a risk," the cloaked man said, "But I believe it may work. Shall I go awaken him?"

"No," the leader said, turning around quietly. "We must first await the _Graceful Assassin_ to complete his duty. I also have more…_tasks_ to attend to. _Cloaked Schemer,_ I have my own mission for you."

The cloaked man hesitated. "Yes…sir?"

"Tell me," the leader said, glancing over his shoulder at his underling, "Have you met with someone by the name of Mokuba? I believe we may have some use of him…"

* * *

It wasn't long before Sora and Yugi reached the center of the chaos, and when they did the man's hood fell back with a single movement of his hand, revealing a stern visage and a ragged main of very light brown hair. "We meet again, Sora," the man said plainly and casually, in spite of the hatred on the keyblade master's face.

"Marluxia," Sora growled. "You're here, too?"

The man grinned malevolently. "Of course I'm here," he said. "I have a mission to carry out."

"Let me guess," Sora mocked. "It involves screwing my brain over so you can use me as a puppet, right?"

"You don't even _remember_ half the story, do you," Marluxia shot back, the disgusting smirk not leaving his face. "But that's enough from you. I'm here to not only get _you_ out of the way, but that stupid _Pharaoh_. Now, if Roxas was still on our side, we _probably_ would have taken care of that first bit already, but isn't this convenient!" he spread his arms open wide. "They're both here for the taking! The taking of their _lives_, that is!"

Sora gritted his teeth. "You can't do that quite so easily," he protested. "I won't let you hurt anyone, no matter what it takes!"

"Oh, but I'll _have_ to!" Marluxia said somewhat pleasantly. "Because if you don't do as I say, you'll never see your precious _Kairi_ again."

The mention of the girl caused both Sora and Yugi to freeze up. Sora's grip on the keyblade tightened. "You wouldn't…"

"She's such a sad case," the man continued. "So much power, and yet she can't even defend herself. But why stop at hunting down Kairi? Why not take your precious islands altogether?"

It didn't take much to tick Sora when it came to his home. It had been destroyed once, and he would not allow it to happen again. His eyes narrowed dangerously and his teeth grit in untold anger. The keyblade seemed to pulse with his rage.

"Sora," Yugi began. "Don't listen to him!"

But the keyblade master was far too distracted to heed the words of his friend. "Even if that's an empty threat," he grumbled, "You have no right to make it. My home's been destroyed once, and I'm not about to let it happen again, no matter what you do!"

"If your conviction is that strong," Marluxia commented, holding up his scythe, "Then you should have no trouble defeating me."

Sora wasted no time in lunging forward, keyblade brandished, and prepared a strike. Marluxia began to strike with his scythe, only to have it blocked by Sora, whom struck the weapon across the handle right near the man's hand. The shocked nobody dropped the weapon, stunned, and Sora seized the chance to pick it up and hurl it at him, slamming the weapon into the man's gut and causing him to skid backwards.

"I might not remember what happened in Castle Oblivion," Sora said lowly, "But that doesn't mean I've forgotten what a rotten guy you are!"

"I take it you've failed to remember my power, then."

To Sora's surprise, an explosion of sakura petals struck him, sending him flying through the air, slamming into a light pole behind him, the sound of the collision resounding throughout the entire town square. Marluxia appeared right at the boy's crumpled form, the tip of the scythe pointed at the boy's heart. "Don't try me, Sora," he growled. "You may have improved your swordsmanship, but I have received my own special training. Thanks to the show you put on with Larxene, we know your new tricks, and now we can take you down. I have orders to take you out, and once I do I can move on to a more _amusing_ target than you…"

"I won't let you," Sora insisted, his voice cracking. "I won't give up…" Even as he spoke, however, Sora knew he couldn't follow his own request. The pain was amazing; a single strike from this man had robbed him of most of his power. Wherever Tinkerbell was, he hoped that she was safe, but now he need her help if he was going to survive this.

An enormous flash of golden light flooded the area, snatching Marluxia's attention away from the keyblade master. Where Yugi once stood there was simply an enormous light, and the cry if his friend could be heard resonating throughout the area as a dark shield began to form all around them. As the golden light faded, Sora saw Yugi standing before them. As he looked closer however, he noticed that something was…different. For one, the aura around him seemed far more dark and sinister. His eyes were narrowed in an uncharacteristic ferocity, and the appearance of total control was etched in his now stern expression. His stance had even changed; he looked a lot more confident than the Yugi he once knew. Most importantly, Sora noticed a familiar wadjet eye on the boy's forehead, glowing fiercely. The puzzle around his neck was also glowing momentarily before its own radiance dimmed back to a normal level.

Marluxia was at loss for words only momentarily. "What the…who the hell are you?!"

Yugi apparently didn't feel like answering. "Marluxia, _it's game time_."

* * *

I told you there was a reason he was there. n.n Yami no Game coming right up!


	13. Shadow Game!

Which Yami will be here? Wait and see! Spoilers for KH2, CoM and Duelist Kingdom.

Also, MAJOR props to The Danvers Girls for helping me figure out the shadow game. Major cookies for you!

Disclaimer: _Yu-Gi-Oh!_ is owned by Kazuki Takahashi. _Kingdom Hearts_ is owned by Tetsuya Nomura and all that.

* * *

**Duel Disks and Keyblades**

**By FlikFreak**

**Chapter Thirteen: Shadow Game!  
**

* * *

Jounouchi raced through the street quickly, ignoring the white creatures that followed him. He managed to lose some around a corner, and raced into the central square, only to find that instead of a horde of white freaks, there was an enormous and very familiar-looking sphere of darkness. That could only mean one thing.

A shadow game was being held.

At the sound of footsteps, he whirled around to find Anzu running up to him. "Jounouchi! Have you seen Sora and Yugi?!"

The blonde shook his head. "Can't find them anywhere."

Anzu sulked. "They ran off into a crowd of those white freaks earlier, so they should be…what is that?!"

Jounouchi followed her gaze to the dark sphere. "Someone's started up a shadow game," he said. "I bet Yugi and Sora are right in the middle of it."

"That's not good," the girl replied. "Sora sent out some help though, maybe we could…oh, there she is!"

The blonde was about to ask who it was when a small fairy zipped in front of them, glancing from Anzu to Jounouchi. "…a fairy? Now I've seen everything…"

"Sora summoned it somehow," Anzu explained. "I think her name is Tinkerbell." The fairy nodded accordingly, and Anzu continued. "Tinkerbell, do you know where Sora and Yugi are?"

The fairy nodded frantically, pointing to the shadow sphere and zipping in that direction. Anzu and Jounouchi didn't need a prompt; they followed quickly. Whatever was going on in there could not be good.

* * *

Sora didn't know what alarmed him more: the fact that a dark force field surrounded him, that Yugi was now so angry the vibes were coming off of him, or that he was standing up to someone who could easily give him a full body-ache with that scythe. To his surprise, however, Marluxia actually stopped and listened. "Game?" The man echoed. "The hell are you talking about?"

Yugi just grinned. "It's simple," he said. "We will both be confronted by an illusion of our past. They will accuse us of something we did once. You can only win by telling the truth, but as the games continue the accusations will get more and more severe. A single lie will cause you to lose."

"And why should I play your stupid game?" Marluxia sneered. "I don't have time for you."

"The winner will go freely," Yugi continued, narrowing his eyes decisively. "But the loser will suffer a penalty game. In essence, if you win, you'll have one less threat to deal with, won't you?"

At this, Sora hesitated. What did Yugi mean by those winning terms? One less threat…? Yugi was definitely more than he appeared…why would anyone go after him?

"Sounds like a good deal to me," Marluxia replied. Sora knew precisely what was going on in his mind. Marluxia could easily escape from here, wherever he was. If he lost, he'd still go free. It was a win-win situation for him. But then again, there was something about this darkness…"

"Just to make things easier for you," Yugi said, stepping backward, "I'll start us off."

After a moment of silence, an image of a familiar blonde-haired young man stood before Yugi. Sora gasped as he realized who it was: a very angry-looking Jounouchi. The boy sneered at Yugi. "Don't tell me you forgot. You hired that creep Ushio to beat us up, remember?"

Sora's eyes widened, but he looked at Yugi, whom remained stern and silent momentarily. He shook his head. "No. Ushio believed that he could use me to get money from me by exploiting me. I defended you from him to prompt that, and he no longer bothers either of us."

The illusion of Jounouchi vanished. Yugi nodded calmly. "Your turn, Marluxia."

Marluxia flinched noticeably when his own illusion appeared: a little girl wearing an all-white dress, blonde hair falling over one shoulder. A small sketchbook was in her arm, clutched tightly. She lowered her eyes in guilt, and Sora swallowed nervously. _Please, don't mention me, Namine…_

"You used me, didn't you?" the girl said, staring at her feet. "You used me to control him…"

In response, Marluxia rolled his eyes. Sora could tell that he still wanted to win this game, but it wouldn't be easy. Still, he knew Marluxia to be the one to take what he could, so the man answered. "Of course I used you. There was no other way we could have gone through with the plan. You were a mere puppet in all of this."

The girl sulked, and vanished. Sora gritted his teeth; how low would Marluxia sink to get what he wanted?! Yugi, however, simply nodded. "Good job. My turn."

This time, an illusion of a young boy stood before him. With a striped shirt and bushy black hair, the boy seemed to look pitifully on Yugi. "You hurt my big brother, Yugi!" he cried. "He's the only brother I've got, and you hurt him for no reason!"

Yugi was clearly pained by this, as his own eyes lowered to the ground. Even so, he shook his head quietly. "Mokuba," he began, his tone of voice strangely kind, "Your brother took something very precious to my grandfather, and hurt him. I may have overstepped my boundaries in the end, but I believe that his punishment helped him to recover from what plagued him and made him a better person."

Sora was shocked to hear this. Yugi had hurt someone before? But even as he watched, the boy (apparently named Mokuba) nodded, smiling ever-so-slightly, and vanished. Yugi's gaze became stern once more. "It's your turn, Marluxia."

It wasn't hard to tell that Marluxia was nervous; he was gritting his teeth and clenching his fists. Before him appeared the image of a person Sora clearly recognized. Blonde hair, a defiant stance, sapphire eyes narrowed in anger…

_Roxas…_

Marluxia grunted in annoyance. "You made us all look bad, Roxas," he said in annoyance. "You were the first one to leave. We could have used you in the memory research project to manipulate Sora. We could have overthrown them! But you left because you just wanted to find your stupid heart."

The only reaction out of Roxas was his narrowed eyes. Yugi's stern gaze pierced through him. "Don't let the illusion control you, Marluxia." With that, Roxas vanished.

Sora tilted his head curiously. Perhaps the accusation was clear by just looking at Roxas. But then again…

"It's my turn," Yugi announced quietly. There was a small hesitation, the illusion appeared: a meek-looking, hurt, saddened _Yugi_ appeared. At this, Sora's eyes widened. Why would Yugi see himself? Was there something in his past that he could not overcome?

"You could have killed him!"

_Wha…killed…?!_

The meek Yugi had tears rolling down his cheeks. "You could have killed him! You were so focused on winning a stupid duel you didn't even value his life! He told you, didn't he? But you still went through with it! You could have spared him, but you nearly killed him!"

Sora couldn't believe what he was hearing. Yugi was protesting against _himself_ for nearly killing someone? No wonder he didn't speak much on his own secrets…if he couldn't face it himself, how could he face it at all?

Yugi…the real Yugi…bowed his head in shame. "I know," he responded. "I overstepped my boundaries in that duel. I didn't respect what you wanted, and I could have killed him, as you said. Nothing will make my decision a good one. I should have listened more to what you wanted."

To Sora's surprise, the meek Yugi nodded, smiling. "Thanks," he said. "At least now we can both live with it." And with that, he vanished. Yugi's gaze narrowed and he turned to Marluxia. "Your turn."

Marluxia was clearly shaken by simply watching Yugi's encounter. Before he could make a comment, however, his own image appeared. A man in a black cloak, with flowing silver hair and narrow, blazing amber eyes. This man seemed calm enough, but Sora knew this person better than anyone else.

"You are nothing but a traitor," Xemnas said sternly. "You plotted the entire time to overthrow us instead of researching memories as you were supposed to."

Both Yugi and Sora seemed rather intrigued by this. A traitor to his own group? Interesting… Sora, however knew better. Xemnas was much worse than Marluxia would ever be. Marluxia apparently begged to differ, as his glare was intensified at the sight of the man. His grip on his scythe tightened.

"Using the keyblade master against us is unforgivable. It is only by our fortune that Axel was there to alert us to your doings. You are no longer worthy of our plans."

By this time, Marluxia had lost it. With an angry cry, he slashed at the image of Xemnas with his scythe, obliterating it instantly. "Who needs this stupid game!" He shouted at Yugi. "I don't need to play with you, I'll just carry on with my mission and kill you all!"

"You think you can just walk away from this?"

Marluxia turned, for the first time terror frozen onto his face as the dark and livid voice reached his ears and echoed about the area. Eyes wide, he turned to face Yugi, whom had his eyes narrowed in an untold rage, the wadjet eye glowing brightly on his head. "Wha…what's…"

"You cheated," Yugi said, spitting the words out as though they were poison, "And even then you lost. You think I'm letting you get away with that?!"

It was obvious to anyone that Marluxia wanted to retort to that, but something about Yugi's mere appearance silenced him. The boy might have been vertically challenged, but by his stance and the way he was glaring at the man before him, he seemed to tower over him. "Your deception has led to your downfall. You care nothing of what happens to others, as long as you get your filthy hands on what you want. You have hurt countless people for your own gain. You think you can get away from that? _My anger has not yet been quelled!_"

Sora, whom had been watching nearby, was probably more scared of this than Marluxia was. Yugi didn't seem like the type to get angry…especially not _this_ angry. What shocked him even more was not only the dark force field around them, but the fact that the glowing eye on his forehead seemed to probe into his mind.

"This eye can only see the truth within you," Yugi said lowly, the words hissing between his clenched teeth, "And it tells me that you hold no good will…only deceptiveness and greed. It's high time you paid the price for your crimes."

Marluxia had nowhere to run. The eye's glow grew fiercer, and Sora could feel the anger itself coming from this boy. With a single shove of his palm, the boy announced the man's punishment.

"_**Mind crush!"**_

The brief silence that followed was almost sickening. The sound of what seemed to be cracking glass echoed through the small, closed off void. Moments later, a shattering could be heard, combined with Marluxia's scream. As the screech resounded, his body began to fade, and with blank eyes he began to fall. He would never hit the ground.

Yugi stood with his fists clenched tightly. "I will not allow anyone to hurt my friends or Yugi," he said, furious. "I may have agreed not to do this anymore, but the circumstances have changed. Anyone whom attempts to harm any of my friends will be punished." The dark shield began to fall away, revealing the world outside once more. Yugi turned to face Sora. "Are you alright?"

Sora blinked in shock, unable to move. "I'm fine," he said quietly. "But…what's going on? What was that?"

Yugi looked away. "That man harmed you, Sora, and I knew you would not survive had I not stepped in. Yugi was somewhat against it at first, but he knew this was the only thing that could keep you safe in the end."

"Wait a minute…" Sora began, hesitating momentarily. None of this seemed to make sense…the game, the way Yugi was talking, the darkness…something wasn't right here. "You talk about Yugi like he's a different person…but if you're not Yugi, who are you?"

The man standing before him focused his gaze directly on Sora. "I'm the one you've been looking for: the Pharaoh."

* * *

This won't be easy for Yugi to explain, will it?


	14. Pharaoh

Spoilers in this chapter include how the millennium items were made and how Yami got stuck in there...sorta.

Also, we finally get a hint at who the villain is in this fic (DUDE ITS ABOUT TIME). Also, Roxas.

Disclaimer: _Yu-Gi-Oh!_ is owned by Kazuki Takahashi. _Kingdom Hearts_ is owned by Tetsuya Nomura and all that.

* * *

**Duel Disks and Keyblades**

**By FlikFreak**

**Chapter Fourteen: Pharaoh**

* * *

"Look!" Anzu cried. "The shield is gone!"

Jounouchi, whom had been running after Tinkerbell and Anzu, felt his eyes widen. Sure enough, the dark Shadow Game sphere was vanishing. In its wake, the man in the coat that Anzu had described had vanished. There stood Yugi – or rather, Yugi's other persona (Jounouchi had developed an odd sixth sense and he would know it coming a mile away) – and Sora, whom was sitting limply against a nearby light pole, keyblade in hand.

Tinkerbell was on the scene before either of them could reach it, flying right next to Sora. Jounouchi, however, was no less concerned. "Yugi!" He shouted. "What happened?!"

Though it was clear that it was Yami, not Yugi, everyone still referred to them by the same name. Yami told them a while ago after Duelist Kingdom that he preferred that; even though he was clearly a different person he still considered himself part of Yugi. He turned to glance at his friends, a stern and emotionless look in his eyes. "The man attacked Sora and was going to kill him. I was left with no choice."

"You mean you started a Shadow Game?!" Jounouchi replied. He couldn't believe it! He thought Yami didn't do stuff like that anymore! "Yugi, do you have any idea what would have happened if those creeps didn't chase off the townsfolk?!"

"Could someone tell me what's going on?" Sora cried. All eyes turned to him. He looked quite beaten and battered, but definitely still alive. A slow nod from him and the little fairy next to him vanished in a small shower of sparkles.

Anzu sighed, walking over to the boy and helping him up. "We'll explain once we get back to the shop," she said, "Won't we, Yugi?"

Yami nodded. "Of course."

* * *

"You mean to tell me that the _Graceful Assassin_ has fallen?!"

The Cloaked Schemer nodded. "Yes, sir, but we're not exactly sure how. There was a void of darkness blocking our view."

The man turned around, crossing his arms. "A void of darkness…?"

"We believe that a Shadow Game may have taken place. There are currently three people we know of with the ability to create such havoc sir…aside from you."

"I am aware of this, Zexion," the man said. "We have no choice. Where is Number Eight?"

"He is currently awaiting orders," Zexion replied. "Shall I send the word to him?"

"Go ahead," the man replied, crossing his arms. "Perhaps an inferno like his will be enough to defeat at least them…"

* * *

Yami had no idea how he was supposed to handle this. Yugi was already a bit upset with him pulling a Shadow Game, but had given him consent because Sora had been in a fix. Now, however, Sora knew that he wasn't Yugi, and now he was onto him. How was he going to explain this…?

They were back in the game shop, in Yugi's room. Normally, Yugi sat near his desk, but this time Yami simply stood in one of the corners of the room, head suspiciously kept low while Sora stared blankly at him. "Who are you?" he calmly demanded. "And what have you done with Yugi?"

"Yugi's fine," Yami replied. "He's in his so-"

"No, he's _not_ fine," Sora insisted. "You might be the Pharaoh I've been looking for, but what gave you the idea to _possess_ people?!" He swiveled his gaze to Jounouchi and Anzu. "Did you two know about this, too?!"

Anzu nodded, as did Jounouchi. "It was a bit weird to accept at first," he said, "But he's not bad or anything. Sure, he's done some odd things, but he's never hurt any of us, especially not Yugi."

Yami nodded in agreement. "They're right, Sora. I may be _possessing_ Yugi, as you may put it, but we both have full trust in each other." Sora was about to protest to this when Yami interrupted, hoping to calm the mood. "If you want to speak to Yugi, then just ask. I'm sure he'd do a better job explaining than I would."

"I'm sure he would," Sora replied, looking rather annoyed and alarmed. "Let me speak to him."

Yami nodded, closing his eyes. _Yugi, Sora wants to speak to you about this rather than me._

_I can't say I blame him,_ Yugi replied. _You probably freaked him out with that Shadow Game._

_I'm sorry…_

_It's fine. Like you said, circumstances have changed. We'll definitely have to be more careful._

There was a brief flash of gold and Yami slunk away into spirit form. Sure enough, when he looked down again, Yugi stood in his place, a meek and gentle expression as always. Yami turned to briefly glance at Sora, whose eyes were a bit wider than normal. "Is that really you, Yugi?"

"Yeah," Yugi replied. "It's me."

"What was with the light?"

Yugi glanced downward at the pendant dangling around his neck. "Well, the whole story starts here I guess," he began. "I found this puzzle in pieces in a gold box in the back storage room when I was seven years old. Grandpa said one of the store owners had excavated it from some Egyptian ruins but didn't want anything to do it, so he stuffed it back there. After I found it I spent about eight years putting it together."

"Eight years?" Sora echoed. "And you never gave up?"

"Not once," Yugi replied, walking casually over to his desk and sitting in the chair. "I first put it together a year or so ago. Since then tons of people have been after it because it's so powerful…more powerful than the other six millennium items put together."

"But what about that power?" Sora asked. "What's so special about it?"

Yugi looked away momentarily. "The power of the millennium items came from an enormous sacrifice," he said quietly. "While it was a terrible thing to do, no power can be given without sacrifice. If it is, it quickly becomes corrupt. The power of the puzzle not only came from this sacrifice, but a long time ago a Pharaoh sealed away the power of the Shadow Games by sacrificing himself."

"So the Pharaoh they were referring to…" Sora began, furrowing his eyebrows.

"Yeah," Yugi continued. "The Pharaoh that sealed them away also sacrificed his soul, sealing it into the Millennium Puzzle. That's the spirit that lives with me, Yami. He doesn't remember anything about his past or who he is, but he still helps me and protects me when I can't hold on my own."

"He doesn't even know himself?" Sora replied slowly. Yami could sense the wonder and sorrow in the boy's voice. It had been a while since he met someone that knew what that meant. For some reason, however, he felt that it wasn't Sora that carried the meaning in the voice. Something…or some_one_…else was the one carrying the true purpose of that phrase through him. As he watched, he saw Sora hesitate and sit back as though he had fazed out momentarily.

Yugi nodded. "No, but he's fine with sharing my own identity. We call him Yami for short, since some people I've met told him he was the darker side of my heart. I owe him a lot for all he's helped me through."

"For all he seems to deal with," Sora said, grinning, "He sure seems like a nice guy."

Yami grinned inwardly as he sat in spirit form next to Yugi. His partner was right, he _had_ helped Yugi through a lot, but to be truthful he didn't want anything in return. Having a friend like Yugi was enough for him.

At that moment, Yami blinked a few times, looking at what he saw. At first he thought he saw just Sora sitting on Yugi's bed, but when he looked closer he thought he saw…

_Yugi, look. Is that a spirit next to Sora?_

Yugi turned his head a bit. _What do you mean? I don't see anything._

_Look carefully._

Yami felt Yugi straining his vision a bit, and it wasn't long before he tilted his head. Sitting next to Sora on the bed was a boy wearing a white vest, a pair of dark pants and similarly colored sneakers, even a bracelet and a few odd-looking rings. What got Yugi and Yami's attention the most, however, was the face. Just as quickly, however, the strange boy vanished, leaving Yugi with an odd expression.

_Yami, isn't that Roxas from the game?_

* * *

Well, isn't that interesting! But y'know, there's more to come. Here's a little snippet of what's coming up soon in _Duel Disks and Keyblades_:

**Snippet! Begin**

Everything here was amazingly dark, wherever here was. But as Yugi opened his eyes and looked closer, there was still an odd level of brightness that allowed him to see. Stuff around him seemed to glow in its own way. It wasn't Domino City, that was for sure. Where was he? And where was Sora? Yugi pushed himself up off the ground, abruptly pausing when he saw his arms and hands.

_What the…_

**Snippet! End**

Next chapter coming soon. Expect a special delivery of sorts soon, _kupo_!


	15. Of Hackers and Moogles

No keyboards were harmed in the making of this chapter. Several typos, however, were stabbed, but other than that no one was hurt.

Disclaimer: _Yu-Gi-Oh!_ is owned by Kazuki Takahashi. _Kingdom Hearts_ is owned by Tetsuya Nomura and all that.

* * *

**Duel Disks and Keyblades**

**By FlikFreak**

**Chapter Fifteen: Of Hackers and Moogles  
**

* * *

Sora had a rough time sleeping that night. Sure, it was a rough day…he had fought Larxene, gone to a Museum and gotten stuck in a really weird labyrinth, and then he wound up getting in the middle of some Shadow Game between Yu…no, _Yami_ and Marluxia. It had only gotten much odder that the Pharaoh had been under his nose this entire time, but he understood Yugi's reasons for hiding it.

_He was worried that I would be targeted,_ he mused. _I can respect that he didn't want me getting hurt, at least._

Even stranger was the fact that even though Yami and Yugi were different people, the spirit had insisted that Sora called him by the same name. The Pharaoh considered himself to be part of Yugi, and no matter who it was walking around in the boy's shoes they were both aware of what was going on (which explained how Pharaoh knew Sora).

But he was still worried. What was going on with the Organization? Why were they back, and _how_? Absently, he reached into his pocket and pulled out a familiar thalassa-shell charm that Kairi had made for good luck. She never got to bring it on their voyage, but he had it now, and promised to give it back.

_Kairi…hang on a little longer…_

* * *

_Just lovely. I can't believe I'm starting my day off with this crap._

Seto Kaiba was not happy. He had woken up that morning with the full intention of getting his business running, only to find that his computer was malfunctioning. What made matters worse was most of his employees were unable to arrive at work that day due to the holidays. He couldn't call an emergency in a fix like this; some of the phone lines were down and he was only able to contact other businesses. When he did, their systems were running fine.

Which left one question…why would someone tamper with KaibaCorp's database in particular?

Making a swift decision, Kaiba grabbed his briefcase and headed out the door. There was only one person he would dare contact, and even though he didn't think it would help, it was better than letting someone continue to hack into his company's data. The emergency security measures would only work for so long.

* * *

Sora woke up with a huge yawn that morning, but fortunately breakfast was enough to snap him into being awake. Today it was Sugoroku's cooking for breakfast, and Sora loved how it tasted. Just as they were finishing their meal, there was an odd sound coming from Yugi's room…something akin to a loud _thud_.

"Bookshelf probably fell over," Yugi mumbled, heading up with Sora following. His bookshelf wasn't that big, but at least he'd be able to help clean up the mess. Upon opening the door, however, they found that it wasn't the bookshelf that had made the noise.

The window had swung open somehow, and the papers on Yugi's desk were scattered. On the floor was a familiar, teddy bear-like creature with white fur, little purple wings, a large red nose and a red bonbon coming from its head. On its arm was a small leather sack.

The creature spoke. "Sheesh, deliveries are never easy, are they, kupo…"

While Yugi stared agape at the creature, Sora was ecstatic. "I never thought I'd see a moogle _here_!" He cried cheerfully.

The moogle swept its gaze upward. "_Kupopo!_ Sora! I've been looking all over for you!"

"Is this thing friendly?" Yugi asked warily.

Sora nodded. "Yeah. Moogles are geniuses at making stuff. Last time I saw them they were running shops and stuff, too." He turned to the moogle before him. "I take it you guys are also running deliveries now?"

"No," the moogle replied, "Just me. Cid made something for you and told me to send it to you, kupo. He said it might come in handy."

"Thanks!" Sora exclaimed. "Er…what should I call you?"

"Name's Stiltzkin, kupo!" the moogle replied. "I ran a shop a while ago, but since then I've closed it down and I help with the HBRC instead." With that, he reached into his sack and pulled out a disc, handing it to Sora.

Sora examined the disc carefully. It was labeled with Cid's handwriting (which was complete chicken scratch, and thus Sora had no idea what it said). "Thanks," he replied, patting the moogle on the head. "What's on it?"

Stiltzkin shrugged. "Cid told me it should come in handy if you need to fix anymore computers here, kupo."

It didn't take long for Sora to figure out what was on the disc. He grinned. "Thanks, Stiltzkin. Take care on the way out."

The moogle nodded, and with another _kupopo_, it soared out the window. Sora tilted his head thoughtfully, then looked back down at the disc in his hands, smiling thoughtfully. "I wonder how this one works," he said quietly.

"You've fixed computers before?" Yugi asked, looking doubtful.

Sora laughed inwardly and shook his head, recalling the misadventures he ended up having in Space Paranoids back in Ansem's Computer at Radiant Garden. "You could say that," he said.

Yugi crossed his arms suddenly and smirked. "Sora versus Computer, place your bets?"

It wasn't until Sora looked up and noticed it was Yami doing the taunting and not Yugi that he gave off an odd grin. "Pretty much," he replied.

"Yugi!" Sugoroku called. "You have a visitor!"

The two boys exchanged glances and headed down the stairs. The door was half-way closed behind them, and standing in front of it was a very miffed-looking young man, ice-blue eyes glaring daggers at Yami the moment he entered the room. Yami seemed to take the hint, and before anyone could notice Yugi was back in control.

"Hey, Kaiba," Yugi said kindly.

"Yugi," Kaiba began, eyes narrowed, "Do you happen to know anything about hackers?"

At this, Yugi and Sora exchanged glances. "Hackers?" Yugi replied. "Not a thing. Something wrong?"

Kaiba rolled his eyes. "Someone's managed to hack into the KaibaCorp computer system."

"_What?!_"

"I managed to put up some emergency security measures to slow them down," Kaiba continued, ignoring their outburst of shock, "But it won't last long. Would you happen to know anything about getting rid of these morons?"

Sora stepped forward. "I can."

A silence rang throughout the room momentarily. Kaiba stared at Sora as though he had grown a second head, but he didn't show it much. "How would _you_ save a computer from a hacker?" he asked incredulously.

"In my own special way," Sora replied. "Just get me to a computer hooked up with the database and I'll see what I can do. Yugi, you come too."

For the briefest of moments, Yugi looked skeptical, but he ended up following Kaiba and Sora out the door.

* * *

About ten minutes and a long walk later, Sora and Yugi were once again in front of KaibaCorp, only this time they were headed inside. The interior of the tower was just as amazing to Sora as the outside: the foyer was huge (though empty, as the place was closed today), and a statue of a dragon similar to the one outside sat in the center, across the room from a set of escalators. Nearby were several arcade-style games, but Kaiba instead led them to an Employees-Only room, where a large computer was set up. Standing in there was a face that Sora had seen in Yugi's Shadow Game: a young boy with bushy black hair, a vest, and striped shirt.

Sora grinned. So this was Mokuba. He seemed like a nice, hard-working kid. He'd have to introduce himself properly once this mess was overwith; the look on Kaiba's face definitely seemed to urge them to rush.

Seto Kaiba cleared his throat quietly. "How's our progress, Mokuba?"

The boy turned around with a serious expression on his face. "The security system is about to break down," he said, directing his gaze to his big brother. "Whoever's hacking the system isn't an expert but they're still good enough to get past the firewall. I've found out what they're hacking, though."

"And what would that be?" Kaiba asked.

"Yugi's duel data," Mokuba replied darkly. "It looks like they're trying to get some of the data of the E-G-Cs and some footage from the Battle City finals as well."

Kaiba and Yugi apparently didn't like the sound of that. The young CEO narrowed his eyes dangerously. "Anything else?"

"I couldn't get their IP address, but I found out that they're associated with that weird group that's been running around the city."

"Then it's fortunate I got here when I did," Kaiba grumbled. "Yugi, you and your friend handle this mess from in here. I'm going to get some backup in the meantime."

Sora could tell that Yugi was holding back a comment when Kaiba left the room, closing the door loudly behind him. Mokuba gave a deep breath. "I've been up since six trying to get this hacker out of our system," he said, obviously tired. "Seto said he had a feeling you could help. Can you?"

Yugi nodded. "Sora has something that can help us out," he explained. "Right, Sora?"

The keyblade master nodded vaguely. He had been looking at an odd red device on the opposite wall…a very _familiar _device. "Yeah. I'm not sure how it works exactly, but I'm sure we'll get some instructions once we put it in." He pulled out the disc and handed it to Mokuba, whom eyed it carefully (especially the messy label, but he shrugged it off momentarily) before slipping it into the CD drive. A moment passed by as the system booted up, followed by a familiar sound.

**Now loading Internal Access Feature.**

Yugi and Mokuba simultaneously blinked. "Internal Access?" Mokuba echoed. "What's it doing?"

Sora grinned. He suspected this would happen. The device behind them was incredibly similar to the one in Ansem's study in Radiant Garden…the one he had used to visit Space Paranoids. "I'm pretty sure I know now," he said. "But this is going to be a doozy…"

**Internal Access Feature loaded. Data Transfer ready. Please enter prompt to proceed.**

Yugi stared at the computer screen curiously. "So," he began, "How exactly are we going to fix Kaiba's computer problem?"

Sora grinned mischievously, glancing at the device on the back wall. "From the inside," He replied vaguely. "Mokuba, I need you to stand out of the way for a moment once I activate this. Me and Yugi are going to get started."

"Why?" Mokuba asked. "Why step out of the way?"

"You'll see," Sora said, beginning to type. A few simple keystrokes and he stood up straight, facing the back wall. "Brace yourself, Yugi."

Yugi didn't look particularly ready, but he stood close to Sora as the device on the opposite wall began to light up with a blinding white light. Within a strange moment of silence, a myriad of blue light beams surrounded the two, freezing them as though time had stopped. Sora didn't look over at his friend but he knew Yugi was frozen in mass confusion as bits and pieces of him were erased right before Mokuba's eyes, only to vanish into the device. The computer screen flickered as the image of Yugi and Sora disappeared from the room completely.

* * *

There's a song by Linkin Park that's called "From the Inside"… I didn't know until my friend pointed it out:

**The Danvers Girls: **Holy crud, Sora quotes Linkin ParK!

**FlikFreak: **Wait, seriously?

**The Danvers Girls:** hehe.

**The Danvers Girls:** It's a song.

**FlikFreak: **Did I do another psychic moment?!

**The Danvers Girls:** You suuuure did. That's the name of an LP song.

**FlikFreak:** nowai

**FlikFreak: **Well...it kinda does explain his clothes.

You know, I'm pretty sure that comment Sora did explains his clothes pretty well. After all, there's all that metal he wore in the first game, and now he's wearing black…

For those of you wondering about the significance of this chapter, it'll become clear in the next one if you can't already guess.


	16. Hacking the Hacker

Disclaimer: _Yu-Gi-Oh!_ is owned by Kazuki Takahashi. _Kingdom Hearts_ is owned by Tetsuya Nomura and all that.

* * *

**Duel Disks and Keyblades**

**By FlikFreak**

**Chapter Sixteen: Hacking the Hacker**

* * *

Yugi knew Sora was a pretty odd kid, but he never expected him to be a computer wiz…especially not _this_ good. What the heck was that Internal Access thing? And what about the weird Data Transfer? And the light…

_Man, what a headache…_

In the back of his mind Yugi could sense Yami stirring and grumbling; apparently he was miffed for some reason. After finally regaining his strength, Yugi managed to crack open his eyelids ever so slightly. The area he was now in astounded him.

Everything was amazingly dark, wherever he was. But as Yugi opened his eyes and looked closer, there was still an odd level of brightness that allowed him to see. Stuff around him seemed to glow in its own way. It wasn't Domino City, that was for sure. Where had Sora taken him? Yugi pushed himself up off the ground, abruptly pausing when he saw his arms and hands.

_What the…_

Yugi wasted no time in looking over himself in shock. His appearance had completely changed; he was now wearing some weird gray outfit covered in odd, linear yellow designs, a spot on his chest shaped with a familiar upside-down triangle with the Wdjat eye in the center. On his arm was the familiar shape of a duel disk, with a deck inside, the edges of the cards glowing a similar yellow color. His head was, thankfully, covered with a helmet of sorts. _Maybe I hit my head and I'm just imagining this…_

"There you are. For a moment I was worried you wound up in a pit cell."

What caused Yugi to flinch in surprise wasn't so much that the voice was familiar, but how _still_ it sounded, like it had been recorded in a booth rather than spoken. Yugi moved slowly at first, not sure how safe it was to move around, and saw a familiar person standing behind him, wearing a similar outfit as him.

"Sora?"

The keyblade master rolled his eyes playfully. "No, it's the milkman. Of course it's me."

Thankful that his friend could keep a sense of humor, Yugi looked around somewhat wildly. "Where are we?"

"Like I said," Sora explained, "We're solving this problem from the inside."

Yugi did a double take. "Wait…you mean we're _inside Kaiba's Computer?_"

Sora nodded. "Yep. Once we find a friend of mine it'll be easier pickings to get rid of the hacker, but for now we need to figure out where we are."

**Yugi! Where are you?!**

The voice echoed around them, causing Yugi to once again stand in surprise. "Mokuba?" He wondered aloud. "He's not in here too, is he?"

Sora was startled as well. "No. Must be a new feature," he muttered before calling out. "Hello?"

**Are you okay? What happened to you?**

Sora quickly answered. "Don't worry, we're fine. We're going to fix this problem from inside the computer itself."

**From the inside? How?**

"I have a hunch I know what the problem is," Sora replied. "Where's the hacker?"

There was a slight pause before Mokuba replied. **The database has been taking most of the damage. Seto think he's probably targeting that.**

"Right," Sora muttered. "Shouldn't be too hard to find. C'mon, Yugi."

Yugi winced inwardly and hurried after his friend. "Wha, wait! Do you even know where we are?"

"I have the gist of it," Sora replied. "I've done this before on another computer. The layout shouldn't be too hard…"

_He really __**is**__ more than he seems,_ Yami commented, amused. _Once he starts fixing a problem he goes full blast._

_More like full speed,_ Yugi whimpered. _Being naturally short does __**not**__ help me run faster…_

As they ran, Sora made a request. "Mokuba, you still with us?"

**Yeah. What do you need?**

"A favor…"

* * *

Seto Kaiba was not having an easy time with his offline computer. It was hooked to the network (which for the first time caused the young genius to curse technology), and thereby linked with the same system that was being hacked. What's more, he couldn't figure out why for the life of him he found Sora so easy to trust. There was just something about that kid that pulled him in. On the flip side, he wasn't sure if he would be able to solve this hacking problem; he couldn't afford to let anyone get a hold of classified data. He was completely fed up and about to turn off the machine when he received a message.

"Seto, you there?"

Kaiba nodded, feeling somewhat exasperated. "I'm here, Mokuba. What is it?"

Mokuba's voice was oddly frantic and confused, but he seemed to be keeping his composure. Kaiba couldn't help but admire his brother for that perseverance; he could get through anything if he really wanted. "Sora and Yugi managed to load up a special security program for us, but they're still working really hard on a few other things as we speak. Whatever you do, don't shut down the system, and if you see two unknown signals running in the same place, _don't touch them_!"

Something about this was very fishy. Seto narrowed his eyes, pondering his brother's words. "I'll keep that in mind…but what about these two unknown signals?"

"I'll tell you later." With that, the transmission ended.

Kaiba groaned, annoyed to no end. Striding swiftly into the security room, he looked quickly over the different screens, turning his gaze to the screen showing room Mokuba was in. His jaw immediately hit the floor.

Yugi and Sora were nowhere to be seen.

* * *

The run hadn't taken very long. Yugi and Sora sped down odd, glowing pathways, the glowing walls and floors racing past them. Once they passed through what Sora called the "Canyon," they came across an odd doorway, blocked by a myriad of hexagons.

"A dead end?" Yugi asked, his shoulders sinking in despair. "How are we supposed to get past here if there's a wall blocking the exit?"

Sora grinned, and in a familiar flash of light the keyblade appeared in his hand, tinted with odd neon colors rather than the natural metallic that it normally was. "Leave that to me."

Yugi cocked a suspicious eyebrow. "You're not planning on _smashing_ that thing, are you?"

"You'd be surprised how effective that is," Sora replied flatly. "I'm freezing it." As though to demonstrate, Sora rushed at the wall, slicing at it a few times and causing odd-looking spheres to tumble out of it. Yugi was indeed impressed by this, but it didn't look productive; the wall was still in once piece. Sora, however, knew precisely what he was doing, and pointed the keyblade into the air. The spheres gathered and converged at the tip, and once the last one vanished, Sora aimed the keyblade at the wall, firing a beam of odd neon light. The wall flashed, and then vanished. Satisfied, Sora placed the keyblade over his shoulder. "Haven't rusted a bit," he remarked.

_That was rather interesting,_ Yami remarked.

_Yeah,_ Yugi replied. "Sora, you didn't damage Kaiba's computer just now, did you?"

Sora shrugged. "His security system is going to be pretty confused for a while, but it's not permanent."

_I don't think Kaiba's going to be too happy with us when this is over,_ Yami commented.

_I think he'll be happier that the hackers are gone,_ Yugi replied.

"Come on," Sora continued. "We need to get through here quickly."

"Right," Yugi replied, running after him.

The room they arrived in next was enormous. It was much brighter than the rest of the area that they had been to, with an enormous screen in front of them, complete with an odd-looking keyboard in front of it. Two more screens were on either side, and though the floor was still dim like the rest of the computer was, the walls around them were brightly lit.

The screens around them flashed uncontrollably. Yugi was able to make out several screens as they flashed by: The card information for the Winged Dragon of Ra, a quick shot of Marik's shadow game duel with Mai as it concluded, a short clip of one of his own duels, and several other familiar scenes. They went by incredibly quickly, and only because he had witnessed some of the events could he recognize them.

"Looks like the database is out of control," Sora observed. "And I bet those things are to blame."

Yugi tore his gaze away from the screens to notice that they were not alone. Before them were about twenty strange red creatures, similarly dim-tinted to the environment around them. Their bodies composed of wheels, a beetle-shaped head, and two arms shaped like cannons. Angry yellow eyes appeared from under the semi-helmet it wore.

"What are those things?" Yugi asked, backing away a few steps.

Sora wasted no time in summoning the keyblade and bending down into a battle stance. "Magnum Loaders," he grumbled, "And a good number of them, too. You ready to get rid of these freaks?"

"More than ready," Yugi replied. "Anyone who's got the nerve to hack Kaiba's computer goes through us."

* * *

Now we finally get to see how Yugi's been fighting. Huzzah. I've also got a few ideas for slipping in Light Cycle if you guys are interested in seeing that.


	17. Byte Bashing

Next time, I think I'll stick with _playing _a computer game instead of _being_ one...

Disclaimer: _Yu-Gi-Oh!_ is owned by Kazuki Takahashi. _Kingdom Hearts_ is owned by Tetsuya Nomura and all that.

* * *

**Duel Disks and Keyblades**

**By FlikFreak**

**Chapter Seventeen: Byte Bashing**

* * *

"What did you manage to find so far?"

Zexion shook his head. "Not much, sir," he replied. "I've sent one of our more well-known studies to hack into the KaibaCorp database and gather information on the Pharaoh. They've slowed us down for a while with security systems, and now we're being intercepted by an internal force."

"Intercepted?" the leader repeated. "Just what is going on?"

"We're not certain," the Cloaked Schemer repeated. "We believe it may be the work of the Keyblade Master again. We are dispatching an emergency data file as we speak."

The leader sighed. "We need that data if we are to improve Number Eight's chances of defeating those two. Do everything necessary to get it. That's an order."

"Yes, sir…"

* * *

Sora was apparently very good at dispatching the creatures before him, but Yugi, whom was still adjusting to the way the world around him looked (not to mention the way his own appearance had changed), was still having a bit of a clumsy time. _Yami, think you can handle this better than me?_

_Hopefully. Let's give it a shot._

There was a brief golden flash of light and the two swapped, Yami now taking Yugi's place. As Yami took control of Yugi's now-digital form, he couldn't help but stumble slightly, but he was quick to regain composure. Swiping a card from the deck on his duel-disk arm, he examined it. _Not much different from Duel Monsters, I see,_ he muttered. Lifting the card into the air, he cried out, "Come forth, Dark Magician!"

A light sprung forth from the card where the image was, and the form of the Dark Magician appeared before them, arms crossed and one hand lightly gripping his staff. While the appearance and shape of the mage's armor remained mostly unchanged, the trim glowed with a bright violet light.

Yugi made an attempt to appear in spirit form next to Yami, only to have a strange sensation similar to when he took control pass over him. Blinking a few times, he found himself standing on the "ground" in the form he arrived with, but instead of being transparent, he had a completely physical form. Yami was quick to notice, and paused in shock as Dark Magician slashed away one of the enemies. "This is new," he muttered.

Sora, whom managed to dispatch a few more of the Magnum Loaders, had also noticed, and was equally surprised. This, however, did not distract him entirely from battling the enemy. "We can figure this out later," he said. "Right now we need to focus on getting rid of these things!"

"Right," Yami replied. "Let's go!"

At the Pharaoh's cue, they charged the crowd of Magnum Loaders.

* * *

"Mokuba! You'd better explain yourself!"

The boy didn't even look up from the computer screen. "Everything's fine, Seto. At least, I hope so…"

Kaiba shoved his face into his hand momentarily. "Where are Yugi and Sora?" He demanded. "You said they were fixing the problem!"

"They are," Mokuba replied. "I'm not sure how, but I spoke with them a moment ago. They're heading for the Database right now to get rid of the hackers."

At this, Kaiba paused. _Heading for the database? The hell is going on here?_

**Mokuba! Is the security program finished loading yet?**

The voice burst from the computer speakers, nearly causing Kaiba to fall backwards in surprise. It was Sora's voice, but it was somehow…garbled. Like it was computer-generated. It didn't sound like a normal transmission.

"Almost there," Mokuba replied. "It's at seventy-three percent so far. Something's lagging the system, but I don't know what."

"The hell is going on?!" Kaiba cried. "Don't tell me you two ran off on me!"

**We're right here, Kaiba.** Another voice. This time it was clearly Yugi's, only causing the young CEO to stagger a bit more. **We haven't found the actual hacker yet, but we've definitely found where he is and what he's up to. We're trying to stop him with whatever we've got, so give us some time.**

Kaiba rolled his eyes. Obviously they were at another location in the city dealing with something else while some stupid program was loading on his own system. Damn slackers...but if Mokuba trusted them, he had to keep it calm. "Why should I?" he grumbled.

As though to answer, there were a few small thuds from the speakers before Sora spoke up. **We've kinda got our hands full, Kaiba!** More thuds and a slashing sound followed.

Kaiba groaned. "Fine. Mokuba, you handle things here." With that, he left.

* * *

Yugi swept a glowing-edged card from his deck, and called forth Kuriboh. Yami was still controlling the Dark Magician from afar, and Sora was slashing away. _Come on,_ he begged silently. _Can't it load faster?_ He glanced up at the large database screen that wasn't possessed by the hackers. Nintey-nine percent. Almost there…

Sora dispatched the last Magnum Loader and knelt down to catch his breath. "Haven't fought on a digital plane in a while," he said quietly.

"You ganna be okay?" Yugi asked.

"Once we beat their leader."

"…leader?"

Sora nodded. "Those things were just small fry. We need to beat their leader or they won't stop coming."

As though on cue, another whirr caught their ears. In a swarm of light, an enormous beast appeared – about the size of the Darkside heartless that Sora could clearly remember facing multiple times. This creature, however, had four legs, each foot armed with razor-sharp talons. Its wingspan was enormous, and aside from the bright azure lines glowing on it, its eyes were a deep blue, staring angrily at them. Sora could only recognize it as a Dragon.

A very angry dragon.

"Great," Yami grumbled. "Does Kaiba want us to help or not?"

The dragon reared its head, a sphere of white-hot energy forming in its mouth. There was nowhere to run. As it began to fire, however, a circular object – which strongly reminded Sora of a Frisbee – soared through the air, smacking the dragon on the side of the head and negating the strike.

Sora blinked and did a double take. Leaning to the side, he noticed that the data screen now read one-hundred percent, and he spun around happily to see a familiar figure standing behind him and waving. "Hope I'm not too late," he said.

The keyblade master grinned. "Good to have you back with us, Tron!"

* * *

It's Kaiba's computer, of course there's going to be a certain blue-eyed dragon in there. Also, Tron making a brief appearance in the fic will be some fun times. Speaking of times, it's BLOOPER TIME!

* * *

_**Blooper One: Mis-summoned**_

As Yami took control of Yugi's now-digital form, he couldn't help but stumble slightly, but he was quick to regain composure. Swiping a card from the deck on his duel-disk arm, he examined it. _Not much different from Duel Monsters, I see,_ he muttered. Lifting the card into the air, he cried out, "Come forth, Obnoxious Celtic Guardian!"

A warrior sprung to life from a beam of light shining from the card, and a warrior strikingly similar to a young man that Yugi knew as "Link" appeared, grunting, "I'm so obnoxious!"

Sora stared blankly. "Um, Yugi…how is that supposed to work?"

"Well, by pestering these things by being obnoxious, we'll win in no time!"

* * *

_**Blooper Two: We need better shoes, partner.**_

There was a brief golden flash of light and the two swapped, Yami now taking Yugi's place. As Yami took control of Yugi's now-digital form, he couldn't help but stumble slightly...

_Ra, damn it! Yugi, I told you we shouldn't have worn platforms!_

* * *

_**Blooper Three: Fighting in Cyberspace is Trippy**_

**We're right here, Kaiba.** Another voice. This time it was clearly Yugi's, only causing the young CEO to stagger a bit more. **We haven't found the actual hacker yet, but we've definitely found where he is and what he's up to. We're trying to stop him with whatever we've got, so give us some time.**

"Why should I?" Kaiba grumbled.

As though to answer, there were a few small thuds from the speakers before Sora spoke up. **We've kinda got our hands full, Kaiba!** More thuds and a slashing sound followed.

**Well done, Sora – just trip over me, why don't you! I know I'm small, but geez!**

* * *

_**Blooper Four: The System is Down**_

Yugi swept a glowing-edged card from his deck, and called forth Kuriboh. Yami was still controlling the Dark Magician from afar, and Sora was slashing away. _Come on,_ he begged silently. _Can't it load faster?_ He glanced up at the large database screen that wasn't possessed by the hackers. Nintey-nine percent. Almost there…

**System Error. **

"Nooooooooooooo!" Yugi cried, falling to his knees. "I'll never get to wreck the inside of Kaiba's computer again!"

* * *

_**Blooper Five: Security is never punctual**_

Sora blinked and did a double take. Leaning to the side, he noticed that the data screen now read one-hundred percent, and he spun around happily to see a familiar figure standing behind him and waving. "Hope I'm not too late," he said.

"Dude! Where the hell have you been? You're VERY late!"

* * *

Next chapter soon! Imma have to take a break...my arm is killing me ; ;


	18. Blue Eyes Security Program Dragon

Okay, forenote to some of you people that are all "zomg Yugi and Yami separate?!" It won't stay that way outside the computer. That's explained later on in this chapter. (dodges rabid fangirls)

Death-T spoilage.

Disclaimer: _Yu-Gi-Oh!_ is owned by Kazuki Takahashi. _Kingdom Hearts_ is owned by Tetsuya Nomura and all that.

* * *

**Duel Disks and Keyblades**

**By FlikFreak**

**Chapter Eighteen: Blue Eyes Security Program Dragon**

* * *

Yugi had been in virtual reality before, and had fought against digital versions of the Big Five. He had played a shadow game via television and video tape. He had even played through part of a tournament on a blimp. Fighting a dragon-shaped program in Kaiba's computer, however, completely took the cake…especially when that dragon was shaped like a Blue-Eyes White Dragon.

Then again, this was Kaiba he was talking about. He had his own jet plane shaped like one. How could he be surprised?

Yami didn't like the looks of this, judging by the grimace on his face. _I don't want to fight against Kaiba's computer,_ he told Yugi through the mind-link. They might have had separate forms while in the computer, but hey had quickly found out through habit that the link was still there. _If we keep this up, we'll cause more damage than repair._

_If we just disable it,_ Yugi suggested,_ it should be fine._

Yami nodded and looked up, dodging another blast. "Mokuba!" He called. "Your brother's security program is onto us! We can't fix the hacker problem like this!"

**I'm on it,** Mokuba replied. **I'll try to disable it from here. Hold it off until I do, okay?**

"Will do!" Yami replied. A small click following his reply signaled the transmission ending. "Save the introductions for later. We need to hold this thing off until Mokuba can disable it!"

"Fine by me!" Sora replied. "We've got bigger things to worry about than who's who! Let's disarm this thing!"

_Okay, forget what I said earlier,_ Yami told Yugi through mind-link. _Kaiba isn't just going to be unhappy. He's going to hate our guts._

_Like he doesn't already?_

Another blast fired from the monster's maw, slamming into the ground and luckily not harming it. Yugi didn't take long to figure this one out: the security program was designed to protect the database; its attacks would not harm it. With a bit of relief, he and Kuriboh leapt back, and Yugi prepared another draw. The fluff-ball squealed frightfully as another blast was launched at Sora, but the keyblade master had definitely fought more powerful adversaries and skillfully dodged the blast.

Yugi was unable to look up in time when he saw the dragon aiming a blast at him. Before he could shield his eyes, a familiar blue light struck the dragon's neck, causing it to fire the beam in another direction. The blue light rebounded and Tron leapt into the air, catching the disc and readying another strike.

Yami took this opportunity to command Dark Magician to send another wave of attacks at the dragon. Only then did Yugi notice a bunch of spheres dropping from the dragon when they struck it. "Sora, look!"

The keyblade master leapt from another attack and quickly found what Yugi was pointing out. He didn't even get a chance to grin at the sight. In one swift movement, the spheres gathered at the keyblade's tip and a flash of light slammed into the dragon. A few blips later, and the violently pulsing light on the figure slowed to an ominous red color.

**You guys okay? I managed to disable the security program.**

"Great job, Mokuba!" Yugi called out.

Yami was a bit less enthusiastic. "I think introductions are in order," he muttered. "I don't want to go running around cyberspace with someone I don't know I can trust."

Sora laughed quietly. "Right. Guys, this is Tron, a security program I met with a while ago. Tron, this is Yugi and Yami."

Tron nodded politely. "Greetings." There was a momentary pause while Tron took a closer look at the two duelists. "Are you two twins?"

Yugi and Yami exchanged glances, and the younger of the two was the first to announce the denial. "Not really," he replied. "We're technically the same person."

"Yugi and Yami live in the same body in the user world," Sora explained. "I dunno why they'd show up as two different people here in KaibaCorp's computer, but they just did."

"Normally one of us can appear in a spirit form visible only to our other self," Yami said shortly. "When Yugi tried to appear that way he ended up with his own body here."

"It still feels like being a spirit," Yugi pointed out. "If I wanted to disappear right now, I probably can."

The program crossed his arms contemplatively. "Computers are not capable of calculating the supernatural," he mused. "So when you attempted to cause such to happen it took a different route."

"Makes sense," Yugi said. If the computer couldn't properly evaluate him having a spirit form, maybe it gave him a physical one instead. "Gives us one more fighting force though, right?"

"I agree," Sora replied before turning his head upward. "Mokuba, we're going to check out the database to see if anything's messed up."

**Alright,** came the reply. **The security program won't stay off for very long, so keep it quick, okay?**

"Will do," Sora replied.

Tron took this as his cue and approached a keyboard-like mechanism at the back of the room. "Do we know what the password is?"

"Knowing Kaiba," Yami began, "It'd probably be something very important to him. Everyone knows him as a stoic type so they probably wouldn't guess it."

"Some thing important to him," Sora thought aloud. "Any idea what that would be?"

There was a short yet stony silence, and all heads turned to Yugi, whose gaze was somewhat blank. After a moment, he nodded. "Mokuba."

Tron nodded. "Mokuba. Got it." There were a few odd _blip_ sounds and the screen above them flickered a few times. "Looks like we're in."

The screen showed a few quick clips of graphs and charts before switching to a list which Yugi recognized as the rules Kaiba had implemented for Battle City. After a moment, the images of the three Egyptian God Cards appeared, then the screen switched to a very familiar scene.

_What the…_

A dark cloud surrounded them. A woman, blonde hair falling past her shoulders, was looking about blankly, confusion in her eyes. On the other side of what was definitely a dueling arena stood a young man with a dark complexion, blonde wild hair contrasting it, dark violet eyes staring manically back at the woman as he grinned in sick pleasure. On his forehead was a familiar Wdjat eye…

_Yami, that's Dark Marik's duel with Mai…_

The screen shifted, and Dark Marik remained, but now on the other side of the field was a possessed Bakura, staring in astonishment as his arm vanished from view.

_And Bakura's duel…_

Again, the screen flickered. This time, there was a room with giant blocks falling from the ceiling. A familiar boy with dark brown hair helped Yugi reach the exit, where a frantic Jounouchi helped him in with the help of Anzu. Jounouchi called out to the boy, but he only smiled sadly.

_Honda…_

The exit closed, leaving Jounouchi, Anzu and Yugi stared on in shock. Jounouchi pounded on the closed-off exit angrily while Anzu just stared, too shocked to react. Yugi, whom sat nearby, began to tremble uncontrollably. His eyes went blank, a cold sweat rolled down his forehead, and he fell to his hands and knees, his breathing labored.

The screen switched off.

Yami and Sora turned their gaze to Yugi, whose own eyes were still locked on the screen, wide in horror and remembrance. "Death-T," he muttered. "When I first met Kaiba, something came over him…I still don't know what…and he created the amusement park Death-T to get revenge on me. There were five stages, and when we reached the third…" his voice trailed off, and Yami looked away, a somber look in his eyes.

"That boy got hurt…didn't he?" Sora asked.

Yugi nodded. "Honda…he made it out somehow, but it was still hard…I felt like I was the cause of everything getting taken away from me, to be honest."

Sora nodded solemnly. "It's not always easy going through times like that," he said. "My own home was attacked once, and I ended up being thrown in the middle of it." He held up the keyblade. "I found this when I was looking for safety, and I was supposed to put a stop to everything, but I didn't manage to. You just have to keep a smile on your face and keep going."

Yugi nodded. Sora was right; the past was the past. He couldn't change it, but he _could_ live with it.

"Sora, Yugi, you may want to come see this."

The three glanced over at Tron curiously. "What's wrong?" Sora asked.

"Nothing," the program replied. "All the data has something in common. It's all related to a tournament called Battle City that ended one month ago, as well as something called E-G-C."

_The Egyptian God Cards…?_

_I don't like this,_ Yami commented.

"So, most of what we saw up there was from that tournament?" Sora asked.

Yami nodded. "Yes, all except for that last bit. That was from Death-T."

"There's also a strong relation to Mutou Yugi," Tron continued. "Sounds like your user friend is popular, Sora."

Sora nodded, smirking inwardly. "But none of the data is harmed, right?"

Tron shook his head and logged out of the database. "Not a single bit. It looks like they were only here to gather information, and they're already gone."

"They wanted to do damage alright," Yugi said. "Those _things_ that were here before…"

"Probably left by the hackers to get the information," Sora said. "Knowing them, they'd probably erase more than just their tracks when they were done. It's a good thing we came when we did."

**Is everything okay in there?**

Sora nodded. "Everything's in tip-top shape. Our work here is done."

**Good! I was getting worried; the security program isn't going to stay inactive for much longer. You need to get out of there.**

Yugi shuddered at the thought of fighting the dragon-esque program again. In the back of his head, he even felt Yami scowling at it and muttering something about treason. "How _are_ we getting out of here?" he asked.

"There are no terminals," Tron replied. "Sora used those all the time to get in and out."

"You mean we're _stuck here?!_" Sora cried. "We came, we solved, we failed?!"

Tron gave an odd, rare grin. "Not quite. As you users say, where there's a will, there's a way, and I've got an idea…"

* * *

Number Eight was almost complete. All the man had to do was add a few finishing touches now that he had the data he needed. For now, however, he crossed his arms and glanced over his shoulder at Zexion. "You're sure this is the data?"

"Yes, sir," the Cloaked Schemer replied. "We didn't manage to get all the data possible, but we did get enough to estimate Pharaoh's power. It should be enough to power up number Eight to surpass him."

With a nod, the man dismissed Zexion and turned to the lifeless form behind him. At least, it was lifeless for now…it would not remain this way for long…

He grinned; holding his hand out, palm outstretched, and began to chant…

* * *

Blooper time!

**Blooper One: ORLY?**

Tron nodded politely. "Greetings." There was a momentary pause while Tron took a closer look at the two duelists. "Are you two twins?"

Yugi and Yami frantically glanced at each other and paled. "No way!" They shrieked simultaneously. "Us, twins?! What gave you that idea?"

Sora smacked his forehead.

* * *

…actually, that's the only blooper we've got. Stay tuned for the escape from the Kaiba Corp computer…including high-speed chases, game grids and the (apparently) anticipated Light Cycle!


	19. Escaping Cyberspace

To answer a question left by a reviewer concerning a certain silver-haired protagonist, I can't give a clear answer at this time, but I will say that it is a possibility. I will, however, confirm the appearance of a DIFFERENT silver-haired young man.

Someone will probably be acting a bit out of character in this chapter. This is intentional, and will be explained.

Disclaimer: _Yu-Gi-Oh!_ is owned by Kazuki Takahashi. _Kingdom Hearts_ is owned by Tetsuya Nomura and all that.

* * *

**Duel Disks and Keyblades**

**By FlikFreak**

**Chapter Nineteen: Escaping Cyberspace**

* * *

Yugi, Yami and Sora had appeared on an enormous grid. It was even darker in here than the rest of the computer, but Yugi quickly suggested that they were probably just adjusting to coming from the bright interior of the database. On the other side of the grid – a long ways away – was an enormous wall with a large crack in it. "Must be where the hacker made his escape," Sora commented, apparently disgruntled. Yami didn't like the tone in his voice; it clearly suggested that he had dealt with this before and it hadn't been pleasant.

Trons voice quickly came to them with an odd omnipotence. **This is the Game Grid,** he explained. **The only way out should be through that crack in the wall at the far side.**

"How is there a game grid here?" Sora asked to no one in particular.

"This is KaibaCorp we're talking about," Yami replied coolly. "They're all about games. Their computers aren't that different."

Yugi's mind was apparently elsewhere when he glanced about. "Where's Tron?"

"He can't leave," Sora replied. "He's a program, not a person."

_He sure looked like a person to me,_ Yugi mused.

_Sora must have seen his fair share of oddities,_ Yami commented. _He acts so normal around this._

_He __**is**__ the one that brought us here._

_Good point._

**That security program Kaiba has is probably going to reactivate soon,** Tron said. **We need to get you a quicker way out than just running.**

"How about Light Cycles?" Sora suggested.

Yugi and Yami blinked, exchanging glances. "Light what?" Yugi echoed.

Sora grinned ecstatically. "Light Cycles are kind of like motorbikes," he explained. "When I first met Tron I ended up being forced to ride one, but they're really fast and easy to control. If we're going to get out of here quickly, a Light Cycle is a good option if you ask me."

**Sounds good to me too,** Tron replied. **I'll set some up for you.**

Yami quirked an eyebrow. _He sure acts casual for being a computer program._

_Probably from hanging out with Sora so much,_ Yugi replied, smiling. Sora shot them a knowing look, but smiled along with them.

* * *

White-hot flames erupted into a pillar. Two large, red chakrams burst from the inferno and sliced through a few nearby trees, setting one aflame and chopping the other down. Citizens screamed and fled the scene as a black-cloaked man emerged, a blank yet grim look on his face.

"Remember your orders," Zexion had told the man. "Take them down. Fail and our leader will not hesitate to return you to your previous state."

Number Eight had not replied in any manner. He had simply entered the town, fire bursting at his fingertips to anyone who got in his way. Zexion admired the sight. When this much pressure was on this man's shoulders, he'd do anything they wanted…

The man cornered a nearby citizen. "Where is the KaibaCorp main building?" He demanded. The terrified person simply pointed down the street, and Number Eight narrowed his eyes, roughly tossing the man aside and continuing down the street.

"That's my boy!" Zexion taunted. "Keep this up and you'll beat them in no time."

Number Eight turned on him. "Don't play dumb. I'm only doing this because I don't have a choice."

The Cloaked Schemer crossed his arms. "Is that right?"

"You bet it is," the other cloaked man replied. "When I'm through with this, I'm taking you and that sick-minded, pathetic excuse for a sorcerer down, too." He leaned in, narrowing emerald eyes and hissing angrily through his teeth:

"Got it _memorized_?"

* * *

Yugi and Yami had merged back together for Tron's plan, with Yami in control. Sora had not lied at all; the contraptions they were about to drive really did resemble motorbikes. Sora took control of Gold-One, and Yami and Yugi were left with Gold-Two. Briefly before they had begun, Sora explained how he had first come across the Light Cycle in a forced game that he barely managed to get through. Since then, he had always given any motorcycle he spotted an odd look.

_I don't care how tough or dangerous this may seem,_ Yami commented privately to Yugi, grinning. _If it's that similar to riding a motorcycle, Marik would be pretty good at a game like this._

_Think we could show him the ropes when we see him again?_

_I think I'll pass._

**That crack in the wall has no digital areas beyond it,** Tron said calmly. **If you make it through it should act as your terminal back to the User World, but you'll have to hurry.**

"Why?" Sora asked.

**Because the security dragon has been reactivated.**

Sure enough, the two looked behind them, and there hovered a very angry dragon. Yugi, whom was hiding in the digital Millennium Puzzle for the way out, swallowed nervously. Dueling was one thing, and actually fighting it was much harder. Simply running and hoping you weren't hit, on the other hand, was not much better.

**I'll try to set up a maze for you to lose it in, but it may not work for too long. Hurry!**

With a jerk, the Light Cycles took off at top speed. Yugi, still hiding within the puzzle, peered frightfully through Yami's eyes. Fortunately for both of them, Yami was a natural at any game thrown his way. A simple chase game couldn't be too hard. He was already leaning forward intently, hands gripping tightly to the handle bars. Sora was in nearly the same exact position. There was an odd sound of a motor roaring and the two took off at top speed.

Yugi, still feeling the jerk of the sudden takeoff, found himself flung to the back of his soul room. _Geez, Yami! You could have warned me!_

_I'm just as shocked as you are,_ the spirit replied, _But that doesn't matter. Let's go!_

"Gold one to Gold Two, there's a wall ahead. Go Left!"

In a flash, Yami veered the cycle to the left, barely avoiding collision with the wall. The dragon was not far behind them, but didn't turn in time and ended up slamming full-force into the wall. Quickly shaking it off, the great beast rebounded and took off again. Yami narrowed his eyes. "Gold Two to Gold One! The dragon's been slowed down, but I don't think it'll last!"

Sure enough, there was a bright flash of white light and Yami narrowly avoided a blast of white lightning as he veered to the right, further into the maze. Eyes narrowing to a slit, Yami focused ahead. _We need to concentrate on getting out of here,_ he said sternly. _Losing the dragon in the maze is just something we can hope we accomplish._

Ahead, Yami spotted a few Magnum Loaders speeding toward Sora. The keyblade master had little trouble dispatching them; for the first few he launched his keyblade at them, managing to defeat one and stun another. He rounded a turn, and the Magnum Loaders, unable to make such a swift maneuver, slammed into the wall and vanished. Yami similarly rounded the corner, the dragon following closely behind.

_These things are so much easier on the other side of the screen,_ Yugi whimpered.

_There's no way we can outrun that thing,_ Yami commented, dodging another blast from the dragon. _Got any ideas, Yugi?_

_If we can throw it off, that's our only hope of getting out of here unharmed._

_We're already trying that. Anything else?_

_This may be a long shot, but what would Marik do?_

Yami nodded and hit the gas. "Gold Two to Gold One! The dragon's not going to be confused that easily! If we just run for it then we should have an easier chance than trying to bait it into corners!"

"There are a few tight corners coming up," Sora replied, veering another turn. "After that it's a straight run to the finish!"

"Got it!"

The dragon was closing in quickly. Sora and Yami were neck-and-neck, the dragon close on their heels. As walls closed in, they veered around corners, barely scraping through as another turn met them. The dragon deftly followed.

Sure enough, after one more corner, the wall was in sight. Sora and Yami took off full-speed ahead toward the crack ahead of them, and the dragon followed. A horde of Magnum Loaders gained on them.

"The hell are these coming from?!" Yami grumbled angrily.

"Probably leftovers," Sora replied. "Once we're out of here, the dragon should be able to get rid of them easily, so let's go!"

Yami didn't need to reply. The two sped after one another, racing for the crack. The dragon prepared another beam, talons flashing, the heat bristling. As it fired, the two entered and raced through a narrow corridor with nowhere to run. They sped faster, racing through the exit just as the beam would have smashed into them.

And then everything went white.

* * *

**Blooper: Attack of the Fake Exit**

Sure enough, after one more corner, the wall was in sight. Sora and Yami took off full-speed ahead toward the crack ahead of them-

-and smack! Sora heard Yami groan from his left. "An invisible wall?!"

* * *

Well, another chapter up. I'm leaving for Otakon on the sixth, folks, so I may not get any more chapters posted up until I get back the following Monday. I'll work on them, but they won't be posted. I need to get ready for the trip and all.

Are any of YOU people headed to Otakon? n.n


	20. False Flame

To answer a reviewer: Sora _will_ duel at some point. I'll give you a few guesses what his deck will be based on.

Disclaimer: _Yu-Gi-Oh!_ is owned by Kazuki Takahashi. _Kingdom Hearts_ is owned by Tetsuya Nomura and all that.

* * *

**Duel Disks and Keyblades**

**By FlikFreak**

**Chapter Twenty: False Flame**

* * *

Sora felt the familiar tingling sensation run down his spine as he re-materialized in what Tron had dubbed the "User World." While it was still odd to adjust to, the keyblade master had no problem handling it. Yugi, on the other hand, was patting his face and arms once it was over to make sure he was in one piece. Sora even briefly saw his stance change (probably swapping with Yami to make sure they were both still there and able). Mokuba, whom sat at the seat near the computer, stared for a few moments before finally finding his voice.

"Are you two okay?"

"Yeah," Sora replied. "Thankfully we managed to get out of there before your brother's security program got us."

Yugi sighed, shaking his head. "As cool as that was," he said, "I'm never doing that again."

"Hopefully we won't have to," Sora replied. "Computers are dangerous business."

The door burst open, in front of it standing a very annoyed-looking Seto Kaiba. His narrow gaze zeroed in on Yugi first before traveling to Sora. "I've been wondering where you two went," He said, sounding rather upset. "There's a huge rukus going on in town square and the mutt told me to let you know."

Sora quirked an eyebrow. "Do dogs talk here, too?" He quietly asked Yugi.

Yugi shook his head. "No. He means Jounouchi." Sora looked at him oddly and he quickly added, "Long story."

"You two got rid of the last freak that threatened my company," Seto continued, "So if I were you, I'd be heading out to stop this one too. Some pyromaniac is trying to turn this place into a wasteland." With that, he left.

Sora felt himself go rigid. So far, they had been fighting members of Organization XIII, and though they had no idea what they wanted and why they were back, they managed to get rid of two and corner one. This one in particular was apparently wielding fire, which could only mean…

_**No…why?**_

The voice echoed in Sora's mind, and in front of him appeared a very familiar person. A blonde-haired boy wearing a white vest and dark grey jeans took a few steps forward. Sora couldn't see his face clearly, but he knew that the boy's sapphire eyes were narrowed in disbelief. His hands clenched tightly and his teeth gritted.

_**Why?!**_

Yugi stepped forward slowly, blinking at the sight. "Who…"

"You can see him?" Sora asked. Yugi only nodded in reply.

_**Why is he here…why is…**_

The boy charged out the door. Sora cried out for him to wait, but to no avail. He and Yugi followed the boy down the corridors of Kaiba Corporation at top speed.

* * *

Jounouchi tore down the street at top speed. His eyes narrowed when he noticed the flames soaring from a nearby tree as it began falling. The blonde, instincts honed from dealing with his father and defending Yugi from bullies in the past years, leapt out of the way just as the tree crashed into the ground with a sickeningly loud smash. People's screams became louder as the flames engulfed more and more of the park, smoke billowing into the sky.

Matters only became worse when several white creatures appeared, crouched low, sleeves flared out in an odd (yet somehow very familiar) design. One lashed out at Jounouchi, but he swiftly dodged again, taking off down the street.

_Yugi and Sora were last seen heading into Kaiba Corporation,_ he repeated in his head from someone he had asked earlier. _They'll probably be able to handle this a lot better than me…_

Unfortunately, Jounouchi's progress was quickly halted when he found a black-cloaked man standing in front of him. Not wanting to waste time, Jounouchi narrowed his eyes angrily at the man. "Outta my way!" He yelled. "I have friends to find!"

The man before him was obviously an enemy, but Jounouchi would not let that hinder him. He was surprised, however, when he saw the man's face…blood-red hair, jade eyes…and a somewhat reluctant expression. "I don't want to do this to you," the man said, a hint of an accent in his voice, "But I'm not being given a choice. I need you out of my way for a while, conscious or not."

In a swift motion, something slammed into Jounouchi's gut. The world around him began to blur, the stench of burning wood slowly fading as his mind tumbled into darkness. The last thing he saw was the man slowly approaching him.

* * *

"Wait up!" Sora cried. The image of the familiar boy would not stop running. They even sped by a rather disgruntled-looking Kaiba and raced out the door, where the boy vanished into thin air. Sora and Yugi abruptly halted and stood in horror.

The sky was full of smoke.

"No!" Yugi cried, racing down the street. _Why, Yami? Why is this happening?!_

_I don't know,_ the spirit replied. _Yugi, let me handle this._

_Right! Hurry!_

Yugi had swapped places with the Pharaoh in several different occasions – usually standing still, but he had also swapped right before dodging a blow and falling into a pit. Running was a first, and though it was awkward they pulled it off. Sora followed closely behind, keyblade already summoned. As they approached the town square, they were blocked by a wave of white creatures, different from the "Dusks" that they had encountered days earlier.

"Assassins," Sora grumbled loudly. He charged forward, one of them lashing out toward him. With a swift maneuver of the keyblade, it was dispatched. "No time for small fry. Find the leader and take care of him."

"Do we even know who the leader _is_?" Yami asked, activating his duel disk.

"I have a hunch," Sora replied, his eyes narrowing. Yugi could tell that Sora wasn't exactly up for it, but when he looked closer he saw something else on the boy's face…what was it…?

The Assassins turned to the boy again, ready for another strike. "Looks like they all want a piece of you," Yami commented.

"They'll have to get in line, then!" Sora protested with a strange grin. Another Assassin lashed out, but Sora was quicker. He dismissed the keyblade and grabbed the creature's arm, leaping into the air and hurling it downward. An odd white explosion followed, obliterating all Assassins in the nearby area. "Let's go!" he cried, charging toward the town square, Yami following.

_Interesting,_ the Pharaoh noted. _He can use his enemies to fight, not just his own strength._

_Pretty clever,_ Yugi added, crossing his arms and grinning.

The two raced toward the central park of Domino City, where the most destruction had taken place. Yugi, slipping out of the puzzle in spirit form, glanced around to see if anyone was hurt. It didn't take him long to spot someone.

_Yami! Over there! It's Jounouchi!_

Sure enough, Jounouchi lay propped against the wall of a nearby store. Surrounding him were several Assassins, but what confused both Yami and Yugi was the fact that they were not facing the boy or closing in on him. They seemed to be guarding him…

"The kid'll be fine. It's not him I'm after."

The group turned slowly to see another cloaked man standing behind them. This one stood a bit taller than the last two, but the only other difference was his face. Long red hair fell just past his shoulders, jade eyes narrowed angrily. Below his eyes were odd triangular markings, strongly reminding Yugi of those on Celtic Guardian, only much smaller and slightly different.

Sora apparently recognized the man, but while Yami and Yugi expected him to give the man the same dirty and angry gaze he gave Marluxia and Larxene, this time he was shocked, even somewhat scared. "Axel…? But I thought you…"

"I don't have time for introductions," Axel grumbled. "I'm here on orders."

At this, Sora was taken aback. "Orders?"

"That's right," the man replied. "I'm here to take out the Keyblade Master and some Pharaoh, so do me a favor and lose quickly!"

_Yugi, he means business._

_But Sora…_

Sora was shocked by the man's statement. He hadn't even called the keyblade out again yet. "I don't want to fight you!" He shouted. "Not after all that's happened!"

_Odd,_ Yami commented, cocking an eyebrow. _Sora's friends with one of these people?_

_He's also got connections to that Roxas person,_ Yugi pointed out. _He said that Roxas had betrayed them, and we saw his spirit sitting next to Sora the other day, remember?_

_Yes, I know, but what about this person?_

"Look, I don't wanna do this either, but I'm not being given a choice!" Axel protested loudly. "If I don't take you two out, then I'm ganna be reduced to less than nobody again! I'm not about to let that happen!" There was a whirl of flames near the man's hands, and a set of large, red-and-white chakrams appeared from them. Gripping them, Axel took an odd battle stance, holding one chakram tightly and twirling the other on his fingertips.

Yami readied his duel disk, Yugi reluctantly looking on. _He's about to fight his own friend,_ he whispered in realization, _And if he doesn't, he'll be killed…_

_We've seen this before, Yugi…_ Yami replied. It wasn't hard to recall the memory.

* * *

"_Jounouchi! Why?!"_

_The blonde glanced back at his friends. "I don't know you." With that, he walked off._

_Yugi had stared in shock as his best friend walked off. Later that night, Anzu was treating his scraped face (it was very hard not to blush), and Yugi was left to ponder that day. Why would Jounouchi do such a thing…why…_

_It was then that a strange voice came to his mind. "Jounouchi has not changed at all. He is still your friend."_

* * *

Yugi remembered the event clear as day. He thought Jounouchi had turned on him, and he had no idea what to think of it, but Yami subconsciously told him that Jounouchi was still his friend, and in the end, he had been right. Yugi took a closer look at the situation at hand. Sora was still standing without the keyblade in his hands, and Axel, though fiercely facing him, was having a hard time hiding his regret.

It was then that Sora spoke. "You're…"

There was a slight pause, and Axel hesitated. "Yeah?"

"You're not Axel."

The statement strangely silenced the entire world. The booming sound of the flames was suddenly nowhere to be heard, the screams of fleeing citizens were gone. Axel stood upright, holding both chakrams rather loosely. "Wha…"

Sora shook his head. "The Axel I knew helped me save Kairi, and even sacrificed himself to help me do that. He also told me what he could about the Organization. He'd never take orders from them. You're not Axel."

Axel stood dumbfounded in the street. His eyes lowered to the ground contemplatively. "But if I'm not Axel," he replied, "Then how did you know?"

"Just a feeling I had," Sora replied, grinning.

The red-haired man returned the gesture. "Roxas, eh?" He replied.

"I knew this was a bad idea."

Everyone spun around to see another cloaked figure standing nearby. This man had icy-silver hair, half of it falling over his face (though it wasn't long, it still strongly reminded Yugi of Pegasus's own style), and dark eyes glared back at them. His sneer was evident, even though he turned away partially. "I thought I warned our superior that creating an Axel replica would be a bad decision. It seems I was right."

Axel narrowed his eyes. "You!"

"Recognize him?" Sora asked.

"Unfortunately," Axel grumbled, tightening his grip on his chakrams.

Yami raced next to them. _Replica,_ he echoed.

Yugi nodded subconsciously. He didn't like the sound of this. _Who is this guy?_

_I'm not sure,_ Yami replied, and echoed the question to Axel, whom apparently knew the man.

"Zexion," he replied. "Not afraid to hurt others so long as he doesn't dirty his own hands."

"I'm flattered," Zexion replied, and though his statement rung true his sneer did not change. "I'll have to report your misdemeanors to the superior. Perhaps after some punishment you'll refrain from straying off course."

Axel smirked. "And you think I'd take orders from you because…?"

_If I didn't know any better I'd say he just burned him._

_Nice pun there, Yami._

"I don't have time for you," Zexion retorted. "I have a little gift to be giving you, and then I'll be on my way." With that, a murky sludge began to appear on the ground before shooting into the air. Zexion, grinning, vanished into a portal of darkness.

"What the…"

The murky fluid swiftly took form. Its body was formed into that of a show-white lion, eagle-esque wings spreading from its back. Sharp claws appeared on the towering beast's paws, and its head took the form of a woman's, dark magenta hair flowing majestically down past her shoulders, jade eyes peering down at the three warriors. In contrast to this beauty, however, were the woman's _fangs_. In addition, the Assassins in the area diverted their attention to the group.

"You know," Axel idly commented, "I might have liked it a lot better when they were on _my_ side."

"Was probably a lot more convenient," Yami grumbled, a bit miffed. "Especially now that we have catwoman on us."

"Pff," Sora replied, grinning. "We can handle this."

Axel nodded. "You two go after that Sphinx. I'll take care of the Nobodies."

"Fine by me!" Sora shouted. "Let's go!"

They charged.

* * *

So, that's the last chapter I'm ganna be able to give you guys before I head off to Otakon for a week. Rest assured, when I come back, I will be writing again! Squee!


	21. Sphinx Teleia

Some spoilage here for KH2 if you look closely enough. Also, I'm back from Otakon. Yay!

Disclaimer: _Yu-Gi-Oh!_ is owned by Kazuki Takahashi. _Kingdom Hearts_ is owned by Tetsuya Nomura and all that.

* * *

**Duel Disks and Keyblades**

**By FlikFreak**

**Chapter Twenty-One: Sphinx Teleia**

* * *

Jounouchi managed to open his eyes. The scent of burning wood was the first thing that came to him. He remembered someone telling him he was regretting what he was doing before slamming into him and knocking him out, but beyond that he didn't remember anything. As he gazed up, he saw several strange creatures surrounding him, keeping all others away from him, but they quickly vanished into white sparks as an enormous white paw slammed onto them. His senses still weak, Jounouchi began to drift off again.

"Wake up."

The voice was young and kind, but still stern. For a moment, Jounouchi thought Sora was the one talking to him, but as he opened his eyes, he saw something different: a blonde-haired, blue-eyed boy wearing a dark pair of pants, a black pair of shoes, and a white vest. On one wrist was a checkered bracelet and two odd rings were on his fingers. What caught Jounouchi's attention most, however, was the fact that the boy was transparent.

Like a spirit.

"This isn't the time to space out," the boy said, pulling on Jounouchi's shoulder. "It's dangerous here. You've got to run somewhere safe before that thing stomps you flatter than a pancake."

Jounouchi decided that now wasn't the best time for questions and got up, looking for a quick escape. The boy before him quickly pointed down a familiar road which led to the Game Shop, nodding and running down it. He could thank the boy later.

* * *

The beast before them was beautiful, but Sora knew it was deadly. It didn't help that something within him suddenly jerked, and he felt empty somehow. It wasn't an easy feeling to shake off, but he knew he couldn't let such a thing distract him. "What is this thing?!" He cried, dodging a swipe of the creature's paw.

Axel was the first to respond. "It's called Sphinx Teleia! It was made by the Superior as a tool for Zexion! Got it memorized?" With that, he jumped into the air and hurled a flaming chakram at the beast's lovely face, catching it aflame for a moment as a screech of pain erupted from the beast's mouth.

_As pretty as that face is,_ Sora groaned inwardly, _She sounds absolutely horrifying…_

_**But we've seen worse, right?**_

Sora paused indefinitely when he heard the voice. _What the…_

_**Foot incoming.**_

The keyblade master looked up just in time to dodge a snowy-white paw that attempted to stomp on him. Brandishing the keyblade, he fired off a thunder spell before casting a glance over to make sure Yugi was alright. Thankfully, he was, but he was having a difficult time dodging blows.

_This thing is huge,_ he groaned. _How are we supposed to beat it?!_

_**The bigger they are, the harder they fall.**_

At this point Sora would be rather annoyed at the additional voice in his head, but it didn't seem to be interested in bringing him harm, so he took the advice into account. He had fought an enemy before using the same principle in a previous endeavor, but things hadn't been easy. If he could use a similar maneuver on it, it would probably make things much easier, but it was risky. He needed a plan…

With quick and instinctive movements, Sora took off at full speed, racing around the battlefield and leaping out of harm's way multiple times as trees fell and bits of nearby buildings were hurled at him. The citizens thankfully had fled, but bits of trash and debris were scattered about in their wake. His eye instantly caught a familiar, flat object nearby one burning tree, and he raced over and salvaged it before the flames would catch it.

_A skateboard,_ he thought, grinning. _This could be useful…_

Sora put the board on the street nearby and hopped on instinctively. The feeling of riding a skateboard was still alien to him; it had been Roxas and not himself that knew how to use one, but as long as the skill was there he made good use of it, and this fight was not an exception.

Pushing off, Sora headed straight for the giant Sphinx at top speed. "You may have a pretty face," he grumbled, "But you don't fool me!"

Apparently the monster heard; it bared its dangerously sharp teeth. Axel was left taking care of various white monsters surrounding the beast while Sora charged head-on towards it. Maneuvering past the beast's brandished and wildly slashing claws, Sora made his way underneath the monster, racing out the other side. With great expertise, he ducked the lashing, whip-like tail of the monster and swerved to grind up a nearby stairway rail. After coiling his legs, he leapt upward, discarding the skateboard into a crowd of Creeper nobodies (thereby smashing them) and running straight up a building just before reaching the top and crouching on it. From here, the beast was still huge, but atop a skyscraper it was still below him. He then leapt upward into the sky, taunting the beast, which leapt up and flew after him.

Right into Sora's trap.

The keyblade master grinned as Yugi fired off a spell from below: the ever-useful Swords of Revealing Light. It wasn't what Sora was counting on, but now it was perfect for his idea. Firing off a volley of thunder spells at Teleia, he flipped in midair with an Aerial Dodge and slashed each of the wings respectively. Following the assault, he landed a blizzard spell on each of them, and the swords faded, leaving Teleia free to move. Even with the restriction gone, however, the Sphinx found its wings useless, and fell to the ground with a loud smash, followed by Sora whom landed nimbly on his feet. "Your turn, Yugi!"

Yami nodded, summoning the Dark Magician in a swift movement. A single command from the duelist prompted the magician's action, and a blast of dark magic slammed into the sphinx, prompting a cry of agony and shattering it. The flames nearby vanished, and the nobodies with them.

* * *

The owner of the mysterious voice is showing up in the next chapter. Just so you know. Drive forms will be showing up soon. I hope.


	22. Roxas

**Duel Disks and Keyblades**

**By FlikFreak**

**Chapter Twenty-Two: Roxas**

* * *

The great beast, beautiful yet deadly, had vanished, and her minions with her. Sora took the opportunity to gasp for breath. Sphinx Teleia had been one of the biggest enemies he had fought since the Groundshaker, which might have still been bigger but was not nearly as unnerving as this foe.

_But it had shattered, not faded…I've seen those Duel Monsters do that before, but if that was a Nobody or Heartless…_

Axel, whom had been fighting nearby, slumped onto the ground. "I can't believe this," he groaned. "I should have known better…"

"It's fine," Sora replied. "You weren't thinking straight. It's not your fault."

"But I could have killed you," Axel protested, not in a sad tone but a rather angry one. Sora tilted his head, eyes sorrowful. Even though Roxas was closer to Axel than he was, he still thought of Axel as a friend in spite of the man's wrongdoings.

"Axel…"

All heads swiveled in the same direction. Standing nearby was none other than Roxas, his stance calm and kinder than usual. Sora was surprised to see the boy again, though transparent, and froze on the spot as he saw his nobody approach Axel, whom apparently saw his friend as well. The boy approached the red-haired man with soft eyes. "That guy threatened you with being erased. I don't blame you for what you did."

Yami and Sora exchanged glances. "Is that…"

Sora nodded at his friend. "You can see him?" he asked quietly, as though his words would shatter the image in front of them.

Axel, or rather, the Axel replica, shook his head and stood up. "I never thought I'd see you again…"

The boy turned away. "Save the introductions for later. We need to get out of here before we're either killed or you're arrested. You still look like the enemy."

The boy had a clear point. Axel nodded, turning to Sora and Yami. "Let's get out of here while we still can."

The boy vanished, and the group took off running. Sora was at loss for words. How? How could he appear, and how did Yugi see him? He thought he'd never see that guy again.

Yami, whom had not yet relinquished control to Yugi, shot a question to the side for Sora as they ran. "Can we trust him?" he cried.

Sora wasn't sure who he was referring to, but either way the answer was the same. "He may seem weird but he's definitely an ally!"

Hordes of Dusk appeared in the street, to which there was no problem for Sora and Axel to cut through. Yami did not hesitate to help either; a few blasts from the Dark Magician helped clear the way. Though his mind should have been focused on making it to safety, Sora couldn't help but wonder about the appearance of the boy.

_Roxas…?_

* * *

The man in the shadows crossed his arms. "So let me get this straight," he began. "Sphinx Teleia has fallen and the Flurry of Dancing Flames has betrayed us."

The Cloaked Schemer nodded. "Yes, sir. Just like the real Axel probably would have."

"But for what reason?" the leader demanded.

"One of our members suspects it may have been Roxas."

The leader grunted in disappointment and turned around. "Releasing another sphinx this soon may not be a good plan. If we can manage to wear him down or at least defeat him sooner, there will be no need to use the Last Resort…"

Zexion's eyes widened. "You couldn't mean…"

Before the sentence was finished, the man turned back around, and for the first time an odd pendant on his neck became visible, a red light gleaming in the center of it threateningly. "If I have to, then I must. But first, there is another obstacle in our way, isn't there?"

"I'm afraid so," The Cloaked Schemer replied. "That Egyptian man…he has not told us – or anyone else – his name. He is the one that brought the keyblade master here."

There was a moment of silence as the leader gazed intently at Zexion. Finally, with a grin, he spoke. "I have a special mission for you."

"Sir?"

"While I ready our next attacker for those two, I need you to do something in Egypt for me…"

* * *

Yugi was in control again, and Yami stood leaning casually on the wall next to him. On the bed sat Sora and the boy they had met before, apparently named Roxas. Axel (whom had a bit of trouble getting inside unnoticed) had simply taken a seat on the floor, and was somehow able to see both spirits in front of him as well as their hosts.

The same apparently went for both Yugi and Sora.

"Who is this?" Yami asked immediately once they were all inside and the door was locked.

"This is Roxas," Sora began somewhat slowly, as though he had some sort of shameful connection with the boy. "He's my Nobody."

"People can _have_ nobodies?" Yugi echoed.

"You have one whether you like it or not," Sora said, sounding rather peeved and sad at the same time. "A person is split in two parts: their heart and their body. When the heart is consumed by darkness, that person's heart manifests into a Heartless, and the empty shell they leave behind starts acting on its own. That shell is a Nobody."

Yugi froze. Two halves: Heartless and Nobody. Roxas was apparently the Nobody, but if that was true, that would make Sora a Heartless…but how? How would such a strong person fall into a terrible darkness like he had mentioned? He couldn't have done it willingly, at least…Sora just didn't seem like that kind of person…

Yami noticed his partner's hesitation and spoke up for him. "Does that make you a Heartless?" He asked, voice significantly stern.

"Not really," Sora replied. "But I _was_ a Heartless once. It's something I'd rather not go through again." He shuddered visibly. Roxas, whom sat next to him, gave him an odd look, but spoke instead to Yugi and Yami with his next few words.

"Heartless are usually mindless attackers for the most part," he began, "But Nobodies think and plan. We all used to work for Organization XIII. I was the first to leave because I didn't get the answers I wanted in my time there, but apparently the whole Organization was falling apart anyway. Sora and I are technically the same person, so if I hadn't ended up finding him when I did…" His voice trailed off and he looked away.

Yami still didn't seem too sure of this. _Remember what Sora told us about Heartless?_ He asked. _They devour worlds and people, cloaking them with darkness._

_Just like what happened to his home when we saw his memories,_ Yugi replied, nodding slightly in thought.

_Maybe they're just a general enemy; like they're not all bad,_ Yami suggested, glancing away briefly.

_I hope so,_ Yugi said. _We can't afford more enemies right now…_

Yami was apparently adamant in his thoughts on the subject. _He may be harder to trust knowing this, but he's saved our lives and helped Kaiba before as well._

_Then I guess we'll have to take a chance at that,_ Yugi decided, sighing inwardly. _Besides, judging by the way he acted before when he mentioned it, it couldn't have been too terribly pleasant…_

"So Nobodies are like a super-organized and much more dangerous version of the Rare Hunters," Yami grumbled. "But apparently not all of you are cut from the same cloth, so to speak. You and Axel claim to be allies."

Roxas grinned broadly. "Actually, Axel and I are best friends."

"Best friends that nearly killed each other," the replica moaned.

"Oh, knock it off. I've already forgiven you."

"At any rate," Sora began, standing up and brushing off his pants for lack of anything better to do, "We should probably head back to town before the department store closes."

Yugi blinked, allowing Yami to disappear (apparently the spirit knew what was coming but he wasn't about to admit it). "What's wrong?"

Roxas cast an odd look over toward Axel. "We can't have pyro-boy running around in that cloak. People will still take him for an enemy."

"Then what do we do?"

Sora chuckled. "Isn't it obvious?"

* * *

Marik stretched for a good length of time before walking back toward his room. It had been a long day, even if not much had happened, and he was looking forward to getting some rest. After all, he was about to call Yugi and see how things were going in Japan. Battle City wasn't exactly the most pleasant thing that had happened to him, but he still wanted to check in with his friend.

As he closed the door behind him and wiped off his shoes, Marik tossed aside his jacket. "I'm home, Ishizu!" he called out.

There was no answer.

"Ishizu?" Marik called again, this time a bit on edge. He approached his sister's bedroom, surprised to find the door open. As he stepped inside, his eyes widened in shock and he raced toward her bed, on which he found a note:

_If you ever want to see your sister again, come to Japan and meet me at the pier where you caused the Great Struggle._

_-The Cloaked Schemer_

Marik clenched his teeth angrily, crushing the paper in his hand. Who would _dare_ harm his sister?! Left with no choice, he threw on his cloak and instinctively grabbed the Millennium Rod from his room before he made a mad dash for the telephone, dialing faster than he ever had done before. The moment the other end picked up, he began his order. "Rishid! You'd better be there!"

A young man on the other end hesitated. "Marik? I'm almost done the groceries. Is there something you needed?"

"The fastest way to Japan," Marik replied. "Ishizu's been kidnapped."

* * *

**Blooper 1: Shame On You**

Axel, whom had been fighting nearby, slumped onto the ground. "I can't believe this," he groaned. "I should have known better…"

"Yeah, you should've!" Admonished Yami, waggling his finger.

"I'm so sorry!" Axel cried out in shame. "Please forgive me, master!"

* * *

**Blooper 2: Watch Your Mouth**

Yami and Sora exchanged glances. "Is that…"

Sora nodded at his friend. "You can see him?" he asked quietly, as though his words would shatter the image in front of them.

Roxas screamed in agony as he broke into tiny little pieces and vanished. Sora began to sob. "No!" cried the brunette. "I didn't mean it!"

* * *

**Blooper 3: Who Are You?**

Hordes of Dusk appeared in the street, to which there was no problem for Sora and Axel to cut through. Yami did not hesitate to help either; a few blasts from the Dark Magician helped clear the way. Though his mind should have been focused on making it to safety, Sora couldn't help but wonder about the appearance of the boy.

_Roxas…?_

**_No Sora, – It's Superman. _**Echoed a voice in the brunette's head.

* * *

**Blooper 4: Saving the Best for Last**

The leader grunted in disappointment and turned around. "Releasing another sphinx this soon may not be a good plan. If we can manage to wear him down or at least defeat him sooner, there will be no need to use the Last Resort…"

Zexion's eyes widened. "You couldn't mean…"

"Yes, Zexion..." The leader laughed loudly, sounding thoroughly manic. "I shall call my mother!"

* * *

**Blooper 5: Owning Nothing**

"This is Roxas," Sora began somewhat slowly, as though he had some sort of shameful connection with the boy. "He's my Nobody."

"He's your Nobody?" Yugi asked, confused.

"That's right, Yugi."

"But how can you have a Nobody if nothing doesn't exist?"

Sora smacked his head.

* * *

**Blooper 6: Round Two, Commence?**

Roxas grinned broadly. "Actually, Axel and I are best friends."

"Best friends that nearly killed each other," the replica moaned.

"Oh, knock it off. I've already forgiven you."

"Okay..." An awkward silence fell until Axel continued, "Can I kill you again then?"

* * *

So. Drive forms coming soon. Marik has showed up, and we still have a light-haired boy that needs to show up. I'm pretty sure it's easier to tell who the villain is now.


	23. Fashion Disasters and Evil Sorcerers

BEWARE, FANGIRLS! AXEL IS GETTING NEW DUDS!

Or something.

A few quick notes: there WILL be drive forms in the near future. We may or may not get to see Sora's Soul Room (depends on request...if you wanna see it, say so!), and the special guest will be appearing very soon. Sora will eventually duel, but that's not going to be coming quickly. It _will_ come, just not yet.

Edited. Needed to down-tone the Axel-versus-clothing scene.

Disclaimer: _Yu-Gi-Oh!_ is owned by Kazuki Takahashi. _Kingdom Hearts_ is owned by Tetsuya Nomura and all that.

* * *

**Duel Disks and Keyblades**

**By FlikFreak**

**Chapter Twenty-Three: Fashion Disasters and Evil Sorcerers  
**

* * *

It took a while to convince Axel to get a change of clothes, but even when he finally agreed it wasn't an easy task. After much trial and error, the group realized that Axel was simply too big to wear any of Yugi's spare shirts or pants, and thus they resorted to contacting Jounouchi. Yugi reluctantly dialed on the phone, grimacing as Sora did his best to pull a shirt off of Axel's head without ripping it (it was stuck half-way on) without much success, and the red-haired replica was on the verge of burning it off. Apparently, it was taking all of his willpower not to due to pure frustration.

"Whacha need, Yugi?" came the answer at last.

Yugi sighed as the sound of his bookshelf toppling over came from his room, followed by a shriek of surprise. "Can you come over here for a while?" the boy asked politely, Yami emerging from the puzzle to stare at the sight behind Yugi in mild amusement.

Jounouchi was no doubt surprised by the request; normally _he_ was the one asking to go over to the game shop. "Er…sure, I guess."

"And can you bring a set of clothes, too?" Yugi asked as a shout emerged from the room followed by a series of thuds. Roxas began yelling several incoherent words, and Axel was doing his best to scramble to his feet, which apparently wasn't working due to the absurdly small size of jeans Yugi was somehow capable of wearing.

"Yugi, what's going on?"

"Just get over here, Jounouchi..." Yugi replied in exasperation. "It's a slight emergency." With that, he hung up and turned to fully view the chaotic scene behind him. Axel had fallen clean to the floor, and Sora was exerting all of his strength to help Axel overcome a thoroughly malevolent and puny pair of jeans which somehow had managed to strangle the poor replica while Roxas kept right on grumbling something in annoyance. Yugi could hear Yami chuckling beside him and rolled his eyes. "What's so funny?"

Yami just shook his head. "Nothing. I just never noticed how short you are until now."

"Not _my_ fault."

When Jounouchi finally came, Roxas and Yami were exhausted from the previous failure of a clothing escapade and retreated into their respective soul rooms. While this was to the great relief of both Sora and Yugi, it didn't help the fact that they were at a standstill until Jounouchi arrived with some bigger clothing. When the blonde first entered Yugi's room, he was rather shocked to see Axel sitting exasperatedly on the floor and nearly dropped the set of clothing he had brought.

"He's not an enemy," Sora quickly explained. "It's a bit of a long story, but-"

"I already know," Jounouchi said. "I saw him fighting with you against supersized cat-woman."

"You did?" Yugi asked, a bit surprised.

Jounouchi nodded affirmatively. "Yeah. Is it gone now?"

"If it wasn't, we wouldn't be here," Axel answered, sounding rather tired. "Teleia has a pretty face, but when she decides to attack she's even more hideous than her master…"

"Who _is_ her master?" Yugi asked.

In response, Axel narrowed his eyes. "I don't know much about him," he began, "But I'll tell you what I can…for one, he's a powerful sorcerer that commands three sphinxes and some form of Millennium Item."

_I think we've dealt with plenty of those things after Battle City and Duelist Kingdom,_ Yugi heard Yami grumble. _The Eye, Ring, Torque, and Rod…and I know Shadi also has the Scales and Key._

_That with our puzzle makes all seven,_ Yugi added. _But an eighth?_

_Corrupt Power,_ Yami wondered aloud.

"I dunno what it's called," Axel continued, "But it's very strong and apparently wasn't made like the other millennium items, so its power is hard to control. The only thing I've seen him do with it so far is create replicas of members of Organization XIII."

"But why would he do that?" Jounouchi asked. "If he wants to get rid of us, can't he just show his face right now?"

"He probably doesn't know much about me yet," Sora said quietly, "So he's sending out minions to test us and not dirty his own hands until he's certain what he'll need."

"That's precisely what he's doing," Axel said. "I may be a replica but I still have the real Axel's memory, and don't think I've forgotten what you got from Yen Sid, Sora."

Sora cast an odd glance downward at his shoes.

Axel continued, his eyes narrowed. "He made a replica of Axel – me – in hopes of beating you two. He didn't want to take any chances, so he sent one of the other replicas to hack into Kaiba Corp's database to get information on Yugi. With that data, he not only gave me more power, but he's also got what he needs to power up the rest of the replicas, too. What he didn't count on was the real Axel's memories coming to me."

"But now that you're on our side," Yugi began, Yami still silent, "He's going to have to make something powerful enough to overthrow you as well as us."

"There's more along with that," Axel replied, nodding in agreement, "But now's not exactly the time."

"Right," Sora said, nodding and standing up after a short silence (Yami suspected he might have been speaking to Roxas, but he didn't look quite as distracted so it could have been something else). "You might be on our side now, but if you keep walking around in that thing people will still think you're an enemy."

"I brought a change of clothes," Jounouchi weakly offered, holding forward the said pile of cloth. There was a small cheer between Sora and Yugi before they finally managed to get Axel to slip on the clothes. While he still had his boots and gloves on, he was now stuck with a fairly baggy pair of khaki cargo pants, a somewhat tight red T-shirt and an absurdly loose, lime-green, plaid vest. While it _was_ better than the black cloak (which Axel absolutely refused to discard, so it was instead stowed away in a drawer in Yugi's desk), the group agreed that the clothes still didn't fit well, and decided that the situation called for an emergency trip to the local clothing store: Backgammon Attire.

_If I were Anzu, I'd call this a fashion disaster,_ Yami commented as the group prepared to head out the door.

_I couldn't agree more, Yami…I couldn't agree more…_

* * *

Marik gritted his teeth angrily. The jet was traveling quickly, but nothing could move fast enough when Ishizu was in danger. Whoever abducted her wouldn't want to harm her right away; leaving a riddle for him to solve didn't quite fit the bill of a hasty criminal.

"Ishizu wasn't home when you arrived?" Rishid asked.

"Nowhere to be found," Marik replied in a growl. "She didn't answer me when I called out for her, and I found this note on her bed." He tossed the papyrus to Rishid, whom read it quickly. As he reached the signature, he stiffened. Marik cast his gaze ahead once more. "I don't know who it is, but I'm not letting him harm my sister, no matter what."

"But what do you think this man means by a Great Struggle?"

Marik narrowed his eyes and clenched his fingers tightly around the Millennium Rod. "I'm pretty sure I know exactly where he's referring to…"

* * *

**Blooper: The All-Knowing Flurry of Flames**

"That's precisely what he's doing," Axel said. "I may be a replica but I still have the real Axel's memory, and don't think I've forgotten what you got from Yen Sid, Sora."

Sora cast an odd glance downward. "You mean my shoes?" He asked quietly, eyes darting back up to glare at Axel. "No one was supposed to know about the shoes!! HOW DO YOU KNOW?!"

Axel narrowed his eyes, and hissed, "I know _all_, Sora..."

* * *

Backgammon Attire…fitting, no? Special thanks to my mother whom suggested something to add to the fashion disaster that is Axel.


	24. Backgammon and the Egyptian

More clothing disasters, but in this chapter not only is that remedied, but we are ALSO going to get back to Marik! WOOHOO!

Disclaimer: _Yu-Gi-Oh!_ is owned by Kazuki Takahashi. _Kingdom Hearts_ is owned by Tetsuya Nomura and all that.

* * *

**Duel Disks and Keyblades**

**By FlikFreak**

**Chapter Twenty-Four: Backgammon and the Egyptian**

* * *

Backgammon Attire was one of the most popular place to look into the latest trends when it came to clothing and accessories. The only ones in Yugi's group of friends that really paid attention to that were Anzu Masaki and, surprisingly, Yami ("Honestly, Yugi, do you have any clothes _besides_ your school uniform?"). The store was huge, and there was clothing on display in the front windows, lined with a rather impressive display of jewelry and a few purses. The male fashion was just as nice, though lacking the feminine accessories, and Axel eyed it curiously before they stepped into the store. They were greeted with a brunette young woman in a fashionable store uniform.

"Welcome to Backgammon Attire, how may I…_Yugi_?!"

The group blinked in shock. "Anzu?" Yugi replied. "What're you doing here?"

Anzu took a moment to put together an answer. "Um, well I needed a new job after that whole Burger World thing and I went to that 'Duelist's Den' parlor for a while, but the manager was doing some shady stuff so I quit." She gave a friendly wave to the others that accompanied the king of games. "Hello, Sora, Jounouchi! And…who's…this?" she finished slowly, face contorting into a mixture of disgust and confusion that vainly attempted to hide under a mask of politeness.

Axel gave a sweeping bow…or as much of one that he could handle in _that_ set of clothing, which looked more like an exaggerated nod. "My name is Axel," he said. "Got it memorized?"

"Pretty sure I do," Anzu replied. "Let me guess…you two are looking for a new wardrobe for him, right?"

Everyone nodded eagerly. For a moment, Anzu's eyes flickered dangerously at Jounouchi, but within a moment she smiled. "Well, come on in! Let's see what we can find."

* * *

Marik had left the plane faster than he had ever left one before, racing through the airport with Rishid and getting the fastest rental car they could manage to find. After speeding out of the parking garage, they raced down the highway to Domino City.

"Should we head for the appointed place?" Rishid asked.

Marik shook his head. "No. Whoever kidnapped her will be very patient, and he'll want something from me. I need to go find Yugi and see if he knows something about this Cloaked Schemer guy."

Rishid looked doubtful. "Are you sure he'll know?"

"Positive," Marik replied. "The kidnapper directed me to Domino City. Either he's set up base here or he's after the Pharaoh as well. Yugi's bound to know something."

"A wise deduction," Rishid said with an odd grin, hitting the gas pedal as an opening came in traffic.

Marik nodded. _I just hope this one is right…_

* * *

"Your clothes are actually kind of cool, Sora," Anzu commented. "Where'd you get them?"

Sora rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "Actually, they were made especially for me," he replied.

"Think I could get a set like that?" Jounouchi asked.

"That probably wouldn't be a good idea," Sora stated, recalling the memories of Flora, Fauna and Meriwether squabbling before finally cooperating. Besides, these clothes were pretty special to him, and there was more to them than just good looks…but none of his new friends knew that yet.

While Jounouchi looked disheartened, Anzu simply nodded and went back to the racks of clothing. "Anything in mind that you're looking for, Axel?"

"Doesn't really matter," he replied, "So long as it's comfortable and doesn't involve being strangled."

"Strangled?" Anzu questioned.

"Long story," Yugi replied, chuckling.

After a bit of trial and error, the group finally managed to get a large set of clothing for Axel to try on. Anzu, the fashion expert of the group, insisted on getting something casual, but none of the clothes fit Axel well enough. It was difficult finding clothes for the man, but eventually they found just the right outfit for him (or at least one that Axel deemed acceptable; he was still a bit sore over not being allowed to wear his old cloak). It consisted of a baggy-yet-stylish pair of frayed jeans, a loose white T-shirt, and a black hoodie decorated with some interesting flame designs on the bottom, the sleeves, and the edge of the hood itself. It was a simple outfit, but it worked out well enough. Anzu, however, did not stop until she had also gone through the entirety of the accessory department, finding Axel a spiked collar, a set of black leather fingerless gloves, a pair of black sneakers, and a pyramid-studded leather bracelet to help complete the look.

"Does it work for you?" Anzu asked.

Axel looked over himself in the mirror. "It works," he said eventually.

Yugi, meanwhile, was fumbling through what money he had. "Erm, how much is this going to cost me?" he whimpered.

"On the house," Anzu said, waving it off. "I have enough spare from my last paycheck. I'll manage it."

As Anzu headed for the checkout to find the total cost, Jounouchi crossed his arms and smirked. "Where have we seen this before, Yugi?" he said slyly.

The duelist just grinned. Anzu had done the same for them in Burger World when they had found out about her job there. Of course, the end result of the day had been a missing patch of his memory thanks to the criminal and Yami, and poor Yugi had never had the chance to finish his ketchup-drowned burger.

As the group headed for the exit to the building, they were met with a familiar face. A young man not much older than Yugi stood looking rather nervous, light blonde hair falling over his dark complexion. Lavender eyes glanced around the store as though in search of something, golden earrings dangling from his ears. He tugged somewhat anxiously at his lavender shirt, gold jewelry glinting in the light.

Yugi couldn't help but hesitate, but Yami was the first to speak. _What's Marik doing here?_

Marik snapped out of his semi-daze and found that Yugi was standing right in front of him. "Oh…hi Yugi," he said somewhat half-heartedly.

"Hey, Marik!" Yugi said as cheerfully as he could manage. There weren't many pleasant memories that he had with Marik, but he knew that the boy's darker side had been banished for good, so it was safe to be friendly.

Jounouchi, however, was still stiff around him, but he knew the boy meant no harm. "What's going on, Marik? Not every day you're not in Egypt."

Marik shook his head. "I can explain, but not here. It's a bit complica…who are you?"

Axel and Sora, whom had approached, paused where they were. Yugi cleared his throat and began introductions. "This is Sora and Axel. They're visiting for a while."

_Why didn't you tell him what they're really here to do?_ Yami asked.

_Remember what Sora said?_ Yugi replied. _It's against the rules. Besides, it's not like we can blurt it out here and scare off Anzu's customers._

"I've still got to handle a few customers," Anzu told them from the register, printing the receipt of their purchase. "You guys are free to go. We've been through every inch of the men's department and beyond."

"See you later, Anzu!" they called before exiting the shop and heading for the park. It didn't take long to find a quiet spot where they could remain unheard. "What seems to be bothering you?" Yugi asked.

Marik looked away. "I got home from a ride one day and Ishizu wasn't home."

"What happened?"

"She was kidnapped."

"WHAT?!"

Marik sighed, sitting on a bench and pulling a note out of his pocket. "The guy left a note. Said if I wanted to see her again to come here and meet at the pier where I caused a 'great struggle' or something. It's signed by someone called a Cloaked Schemer."

The group instantly stiffened, and Yugi felt his gaze inch toward Sora. Roxas stood next to him with arms crossed and eyes narrowed angrily. Apparently he and Sora were having a short conversation about Zexion. Within moments, however, the Nobody vanished. "Do you have any idea what he wants?" Sora asked.

"No," the Egyptian boy replied, shaking his head. "But I have an idea. He's directing me to Domino because he wants something from here…either from KaibaCorp, the Pharaoh, or something else. What I want to know is what pier he's referring to…and whatever that 'great struggle' was that I caused…"

_Yugi, if you would…_

_Got it._

In a brief golden light, Yami and Yugi swapped places. Yami stood. "The harbor," he said simply. Everyone turned their attention to him, and he nodded. "Marik, during Battle City, when Jounouchi and I dueled…"

There was a moment of hesitation when Marik looked shameful, but his gaze stiffened into determination and he nodded. "Right. Let's go. Ishizu's life is on the line."

* * *

LULZfor a reference to my other fic, lmao.

And yeah, I'm sorry if I wasn't creative with Axel's new duds. I'm not a clothing person !

Anyway. Bloopers!

* * *

**Blooper One: Always Wear a Seatbelt**

Rishid looked doubtful. "Are you sure he'll know?"

"Positive," Marik replied. "The kidnapper directed me to Domino City. Either he's set up base here or he's after the Pharaoh as well. Yugi's bound to know something."

"A wise deduction," Rishid said with an odd grin, hitting the gas pedal as an opening came in traffic. Unfortunately, due to his face turned Marik and not the road, he failed to see the large van with a "FRAGILE" sign on it's back door.

Hours later, their demolished car was lifted from a nearby ditch via helicopter.

* * *

**Blooper Two: Not Yours**

"Your clothes are actually kind of cool, Sora," Anzu commented. "Where'd you get them?"

Sora rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "Actually, they were made especially for me," he replied. A smug smile appeared on his face. "Mine, all mine! Mine! MINE!!"

"Uhm, okay..."

* * *

**Blooper Three: Strike me a pose, Mister!**

"Does it work for you?" Anzu asked.

Axel looked over himself in the mirror. "It works," he said eventually. With a confident grin, the red-head spun on the spot, striking a dramatic pose – and scaring most of the customers from the shop.

* * *

**Blooper Four: Marik's Map Misunderstanding**

"Hey, Marik!" Yugi said as cheerfully as he could manage. There weren't many pleasant memories that he had with Marik, but he knew that the boy's darker side had been banished for good, so it was safe to be friendly.

Jounouchi, however, was still stiff around him, but he knew the boy meant no harm. "What's going on, Marik? Not every day you're not in Egypt."

"Damn!" the Egyptian cursed, crossing his arms. "You mean I got lost again?"

* * *

**Blooper Five: What what?**

"What seems to be bothering you?" Yugi asked.

Marik looked away. "I got home from a ride one day and Ishizu wasn't home."

"What happened?"

"She was kidnapped."

"WHAT?!"

"She was kidnapped."

"Yeah, I know that, but... what?!"

"I said, she was kidnapped!"

* * *

Anyway…next chapter coming right on up!


	25. The Whirlwind Lancer

I would have Yami-no-Game'd Xaldin, but I had a better plan in mind.

Disclaimer: _Yu-Gi-Oh!_ is owned by Kazuki Takahashi. _Kingdom Hearts_ is owned by Tetsuya Nomura and all that.

* * *

**Duel Disks and Keyblades**

**By FlikFreak**

**Chapter Twenty-Five: The Whirlwind Lancer**

* * *

Sora gritted his teeth as the group raced down the streets for the pier. From the looks he saw on his friend's faces, whatever happened in that duel between Jounouchi and Yugi couldn't have been pleasant. At the same time, they mentioned something about Marik _causing_ it, prompting a heavy look of guilt on the boy's face. What was wrong with him? Why would he cause anything to happen between Yugi and Jounouchi?

They soon arrived at the pier, which had a square-shape to it, the suspension bars above torn apart somehow. Only something massive could have broken it. On some parts of the pier were burn marks as well. Roxas wasted no time in appearing next to Sora. _Whatever went on here was definitely some form of struggle,_ he said suspiciously. _This place has probably seen better days._

_I know,_ Sora replied. _But why would they lead us here?_

"Marik Ishtar, commander of the Millennium Rod…you have come for your sister?"

The voice was awfully familiar. Sora summoned the keyblade immediately, and Roxas glared upward where the wind began to swirl in a cyclone. Marik gritted his teeth and whipped out an odd golden rod from his belt, the front emblazoned with an eye design similar to the one Sora had seen on Yugi's puzzle. In a moment of shock, Sora realized that the item was the Millennium Rod just mentioned – one of the seven items that Yugi spoke of.

As the whirlwind cleared, a man faded into the scene. Long, dark, braided hair fell past his shoulders, dark violet eyes glaring back at him. Clenched on one of his arms was a young woman dressed in creamy white robes, her dark hair blowing softly in the wind, eyes wide in terror.

_Xaldin!_ Sora heard Roxas snarl angrily. _Then that girl must be…_

"Ishizu!" Marik cried.

"Very observant," Xaldin replied, grinning.

"Let her go," Yami said, having switched places with Yugi on the spot.

"With pleasure," The man replied. "But I'm afraid I must decline. This woman has valuable knowledge of the various phenomenon that happened near the end of the Battle City tournament, and I believe Master Anubis desires such firsthand accounts."

"Anubis!?" Sora cried.

Xaldin nodded. "Correct, Roxas."

Sora narrowed his eyes. "Even now, you're still not giving up that stupid ploy of yours?" He growled. "Forget it, Nobody! You don't have hearts! You don't exist! You can't trick me, and you definitely aren't winning Roxas back over any time soon!"

"Don't be reckless," the man replied, crossing his arms. "You don't have a clue who's in charge here!"

"Whoever _is_ in charge is a nutcase," Jounouchi grumbled, stepping forward. "In case you haven't noticed, we've got you outnumbered, six-to-one!"

Marik blinked momentarily. "Wait," he muttered. "Six?"

"I'll explain that later," Jounouchi noted before turning back to Xaldin. "You wanna try picking a fight with us? Well, you're making a big mistake!"

"It's not a problem before," he said, grinning. "I've fought against four at once."

"And you _lost_," Sora noted, grinning. "So prepare to lose again!"

At the sound of those words, Xaldin just grinned. A strong gust of wind swept past the pier, and in a swarm of twilight thorns, six lances appeared around the man. A low and malevolent smirk appeared on his face, and Sora wasted no time in summoning the Keyblade. _This'll be a doozy…_

_I never liked how he ranted about all that anger crap and whatnot,_ Roxas mumbled in agreement. _Let's make mincemeat out of him._

While Sora charged forward to face this new opponent, Yami, Jounouchi and Marik hung back. Axel, on the other hand, was racing around the side of the pier to meet the opposition right along with Sora. A flurry of lances rushed Sora's way, and with difficulty the boy managed to dodge them. As he ran, he heard the lances smashing into bits of the pier, blocking their way back. It was now or never…

Axel hurled two flaming chakrams at Xaldin, whom recoiled his lances in order to block them, but ended up being too slow and was hurled backward into the air. As he recovered and began to hover forward again, Sora heard Jounouchi do a double-take. "This guy _flies_?!" he exclaimed.

"He's called the Whirlwind Lancer for a reason," Axel grumbled, hurling a swarm of flames toward the man. "I'm not letting you hurt my friends!"

Xaldin shook his head. "You speak as though you actually have some."

There was a momentary pause and all eyes locked onto Xaldin. The man, pleased that he had their attention, continued. "Axel, you follow the illusion of a friendship you can't even feel. You are a Nobody. Nobodies do not have hearts, and so they cannot truly feel. Nobodies do not really exist. You are as solid and whole as I am. And to top _that_ off, you're only a replica of the real Axel."

"Who cares?" Axel replied. "I may not have a real memory, but that memory is still mine! Not even that idiot sorcerer Anubis can change _that_!" He launched his chakrams again.

Yami immediately activated his duel disk and drew a card. In a flash, a familiar-looking Duel Monster appeared before him. "Dark Magician Girl, come forth!"

Sora momentarily swept his gaze backward just in time to see the girl appear. _It's her!_

_Oooh, you finally get a girlfriend, Sora?_ Roxas teased.

_Knock it off! She helped me out before. I never knew she was in Yugi's deck…_

There was an enormous blast of pink light, slamming into Xaldin and nearly sending him flying into a pole nearby. His lances, however, lashed out at Sora, sending him flying back onto the main dock.

Marik narrowed his eyes at the scene. "This won't be easy," he muttered, tightening his grip on the Millennium Rod. "Forgive me for this, Ishizu…"

Sora struggled to his feet. Having heard Marik's words, he returned his gaze to where Xaldin had last been. Sure enough, he remained unharmed, and the woman was still in his arms. If this guy was spending all his energy just to protect her, then this was going to be tough. They had to beat him, but not hurt Ishizu…

A bright flash of golden light shone from where Marik held his rod. Sora stood, in hope that it would strike Xaldin away from the woman, but instead nothing happened. Xaldin laughed. "Is that the only attack you have, Marik Ishtar? I'm afraid you still need some practice."

"You have no idea," Ishizu grumbled. It was only then that Xaldin noticed that Ishizu was not only glaring at him, but was speaking half with Marik's voice, and had a glowing eye shape on her forehead. Before he could recover from the shock, the woman gave him a swift kick in between the legs and hurried down the pier to her brother. Only when she was back on solid ground did the eye fade. "Wha…what happened?"

Marik grinned sheepishly. "Sorry, Ishizu…I kinda had to…"

The woman's eyes traveled to the Millennium Rod. "You didn't."

"Well…"

Axel took the chance to intervene. "It worked, though, didn't it?"

"And now he's wide open," Yami said, eyes narrowing. "Dark Magician Girl! Attack!"

The girl nodded, a strangely serious expression on her face. With a single movement, another blast of pink light shot forth from her staff, slamming into Xaldin once more. The man, fatally injured, began to fade.

"You don't get it, did you?" Sora said, angry. "We're taking Anubis down, and you won't be in our way anymore."

Xaldin, however, would not fade without a last remark. "You won't succeed, Sora…" he said, smirking. "This world will soon belong to Anubis; just as your world, Sora, fell to the Heartless." With that, Xaldin was no more.

The man's last words kept Sora stiff. Anubis still had tricks up his sleeve, did he? But as a keyblade master, he wouldn't let this world fall to darkness. As a person, however…as a person, he couldn't endanger his friends. He didn't care what he had to go through…seeing this was far too much for him.

Or was it just too much for _Roxas_?

_You can stop worrying about me being a parasite, you know,_ the Nobody said, appearing next to Sora. _I'm not like that anymore._

_Then why do I feel so upset?_ Sora replied vehemently. _I don't think that…_

"You did _**what**_?!"

Sora was snapped out of his thoughts with an argument between Marik and Ishizu – one which Ishizu seemed to be winning, in spite of her meek appearance.

Marik rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "If I hadn't done it, you would have been taken to Anubis and probably hurt…"

Ishizu crossed her arms. "I could have done that on my own," she insisted. "I may be feminine but that doesn't mean I can't defend myself."

Yugi had taken control back from Yami and spoke up in hopes of stopping the argument. "Anyway!" He cried a bit loudly, catching everyone's attention, "What's important is that everyone's safe." His gaze turned over to Sora, whom glanced momentarily at Roxas and then back at his friends.

"I don't get one thing though," Jounouchi said, and all eyes turned to him. "After he went and threatened us with Anubis's world domination and all, he mentioned something about Sora's world falling to heartless or something like that."

Sora felt himself go rigid.

Marik turned to face Sora, pausing when he noticed Roxas. "What…" he began. Apparently, Ishizu also noticed, but she remained silent.

"Why did he even mention that?" Sora muttered, beginning to walk off. "How did he even know…"

Roxas's shoulders drooped a bit in sadness. _Sora…_

But the keyblade master just sighed. "Let's go home. I'm tired." With that, he walked away. The rest of the group gazed toward the sky, noting that it was indeed sundown. Nodding, the group moved out, with Jounouchi, Sora and Yugi heading for the game shop, Roxas's spirit form striding alongside them. Marik and Ishizu headed for a nearby hotel, confused looks on their faces.

In his sorrowful stupor, Sora barely noticed Yugi standing beside him with an immensely worried expression. Something was tormenting his friend from within, and he couldn't do a thing about it, even though he wanted to.

But perhaps there was a way to help…

* * *

Huge thanks to my Beta, The Danvers Girls, for pointing out many mistakes and typos I made in this chapter O.O

* * *

**Blooper One: All Your Sweets Are Belong To Marik**

Marik grinned sheepishly. "Sorry, Ishizu…I kinda had to…"

The woman's eyes traveled to the Millennium Rod. "You didn't."

"Yes." There was an uncomfortable silence. "Yes, I _did_ steal your chocolate again."

* * *

**Blooper Two: Axel the Know-It-All**

"Why did he even mention that?" Sora muttered, beginning to walk off. "How did he even know…?"

Axel crossed his arms superiorly, and grinned. "We nobodies know _all_!"

* * *

**Blooper-slash-deleted scene: Who cares?**

"Ah, I don't think we've had a proper introduction." Marik gave a sweeping bow. "My name is Marik Ishtar."

Sora narrowed his eyes. "I don't care."

Marik grinned slyly. "What if I told you I had exclusive knowledge of certain secrets?"

The keyblade master crossed his arms. "I don't care."

The blonde grumbled angrily. This called for a change of tactic. "Once I possess what I desire," he said, lifting the gold artifact in his hand, "The Millennium Rod will mean _absolutely nothing_ to me!"

There was a stony silence, and Sora narrowed his eyes, clenching his teeth in determination. Marik was definitely making a nice offer; it was hard to turn down. After a moment of contemplation, Sora looked up at the Egyptian and muttered his reply.

"…I don't care."

(Added Disclaimer: Yugioh Abridged is the work of LittleKuriboh. n.n)


	26. A Troubled Soul

Whew, this fic is getting long, isn't it? One of my longest ever O.o And one of my most popular, seeing the number of views and reviews. This story is far from over, too…

To answer the ever-present question of whether or not Riku will show up, first off I'll have to say he _will_ be appearing in Sora's memories. Aside from that, I can't say anything at this time. I'd love to answer some other questions as to what happens next but I don't wanna spoil it for you guys.

Also, Sora's soul room is featured in this chapter.

Disclaimer: _Yu-Gi-Oh!_ is owned by Kazuki Takahashi. _Kingdom Hearts_ is owned by Tetsuya Nomura and all that.

* * *

**Duel Disks and Keyblades**

**By FlikFreak**

**Chapter Twenty-Six: A Troubled Soul**

* * *

The walk home was silent. While Sora just stared at his feet and continued walking with Roxas alongside him, trying to cheer him up, Yugi had his gaze fixed on his friend worriedly. That man – Xaldin, his name was – had left them with naught but puzzling words, but for Sora they seemed strongly discouraging.

"_You won't succeed, Sora. This world will soon belong to Anubis, just as your world fell to the heartless."_

_So Sora's from some other world,_ Yugi mused. _He definitely wasn't from around here when we first met him, since he didn't know anything about Duel Monsters, but…_

_I had a feeling something was different about him the moment we met him,_ Yami added, appearing next to Yugi and crossing his arms. _Besides, remember the storm we saw in his memories? That was no ordinary storm._

"Cheer up, Sora!" Axel said, putting a hand on the boy's shoulder. "I bet he was just saying that to work you up. Don't let it get to you!"

Sora only shook his head. Roxas glanced up at Axel and sighed. "Let's just get some rest, Axel. We all need it, not just Sora." After Axel nodded and turned away, he turned to Yugi with a blank expression on his face before disappearing again.

Jounouchi quirked an eyebrow curiously in Sora's direction. The keyblade master, apparently trying to get his mind off of his troubles, turned to the blonde. "What's wrong?"

"I thought I saw that kid again," Jounouchi replied. "The one with the blonde hair and blue eyes. He looks a lot like you."

"You can see Roxas?" Sora asked incredulously.

"Maybe it's from when we dueled on the pier," Yugi suggested. "I let you wear the millennium puzzle for a while; remember, Jounouchi? Maybe something rubbed off on you."

"Maybe," Jounouchi echoed, staring at the sky momentarily. The sun was just about gone, and the stars began making themselves known.

Yugi sighed inwardly. Indeed, the group was going to need some sleep; much had happened that day (strange delivery creatures, Kaiba's computer, Axel, that Sphinx _and _the shopping escapade, not to mention the Xaldin encounter), and if there was more to come they were going to need some rest. Still, the boy couldn't help but wonder what had struck Sora so harshly…

* * *

"Xaldin has fallen?"

Zexion winced. "Yes, sir, but he was able to get an adequate amount of information from the Ishtar woman before the Pharaoh and the Keyblade Master intervened. It would also seem that Axel was fighting alongside them, along with Marik Ishtar and a strange young man named Jounouchi Katsuya…"

Anubis turned from the shadows and narrowed his eyes at the cloaked man. "What of Jounouchi? He is nothing more than a former thug whom is now allied with the Keyblade Master and the Pharaoh."

"He seems to have the ability to see spirits and nobodies in spirit form," Zexion added. "He could pose a problem."

The superior turned around. "I have another replica in the works. Continue monitoring the group, and prepare for the Melodious Nocturne."

Zexion stood upright. "Master Anubis, he never was the best at fighting when he first faced Sora before! If he shows up again, he will hardly stand a cha-"

Before the Cloaked Schemer could finish his sentence, Anubis whipped around and grabbed the collar of his cloak, dragging him into the air and silencing him. "You are all very disposable to me," the sorcerer growled. "Even if you do fall, I can simply create more copies of you if I must. The reason I don't is because you are not worthy of this when you fail to dispose of that accursed keyblade and Pharaoh. My decisions are absolute. Now go, before I change my mind about giving you mercy."

Anubis dropped Zexion to the ground, whom scrambled to his feet and hurried off. Turning around, the sorcerer crossed his arms and chuckled. "I don't need these pathetic imbeciles," he muttered, pulling a card from thin air and grinning. "We have gathered enough data. It is time to put the first step of my plans into motion…"

* * *

That night, Jounouchi had stayed over due to continuing home problems (as well as the street being blocked off), so he claimed the couch in the living room while Axel took the living room floor. Sora once again claimed Yugi's bed, which was fine with the duelist seeing as he had apparently been through plenty of emotional stress that day. Instead, Yugi lay on his back on the floor, eyes fixed on Sora's restless form tossing and turning every so often on the bed.

_He can't sleep at all,_ Yugi thought. _Whatever that guy meant really hit him hard…_

For a moment, the duelist considered contacting Yami for advice, but the spirit was already getting some rest, and Yugi didn't want to wake him. Sighing quietly, he sat up. _If there were a way I could help Sora, I'd do it…but how?_

As though prompted by his words, the keyblade appeared in a faint flash of light, and Sora instinctively gripped it, still not waking up. Curious, Yugi eyed the key momentarily before glancing at Sora. Noting that the boy was still asleep, he began to creep closer, careful not to make any noise.

_Maybe the keyblade has something to do with it,_ Yugi began. _If I could just-_

Yugi's words were interrupted with a flash of light from the keyblade's tip blinded him. Yugi shielded his eyes from what he expected to be some form of attack, but instead felt the familiar sensation of switching places with Yami again…or rather, what should have been like that. When he opened his eyes, he realized that he was just fine, and hadn't been attacked in any form whatsoever. Instead, he found himself standing in a strange room that should have been familiar.

The room was very similar to a beach – the one he had seen in Sora's memory of the dark creatures attacking his island, only this beach seemed to be more of a small island in the middle of a vast and empty ocean. Nearby was a table, on which was an open ice cream wrapper with a strange aqua-blue Popsicle on it, melting gradually but somehow not disappearing completely. A wooden sword also lay on the table, as well as a strange charm made from seashells, sewn together somehow in the shape of a star. On a tree nearby there were several star-shaped fruits, and a dart board was pinned onto it, with a picture pinned to the corner with great care featuring several children posing in front of the gate to an old mansion. What caught Yugi's attention most, however, was the fact that it was raining, but he wasn't getting wet. As he stepped forward, he hesitated and looked down, noticing that he wasn't wearing any shoes, and was somehow dressed in more appropriate summer clothing…which he didn't mind, considering that even in this rain, the area was pretty warm.

"I had a feeling this would happen sooner or later."

Yugi spun around to see none other than Roxas appearing before him, arms crossed casually. He seemed concerned about something, but the serious expression coupled with it simply puzzled Yugi. "What would happen?"

Roxas let his arms fall by his side. "You don't know where you are yet?" He said. "You were worried about Sora. The keyblade sensed that worry and brought you here, to his soul room."

"His _soul room_?" Yugi exclaimed, doing a double take around him. He had never been in anyone's soul room aside from his own and Yami's. More importantly, he hadn't been in a soul room this gloomy ever before. Sure, Yami's was pretty huge and mysterious (not to mention difficult to navigate), but an island? Not only was this different, but the rain made it very gloomy. "Why is it so stormy in here?"

"Sora's upset over what Xaldin said," Roxas said, looking away. "It only takes a small reminder of what happened to his home world to get him worked up. Sora's not an easy person to discourage, but that memory is engraved in his mind."

"So Sora's from another world?" Yugi asked. "Why didn't he tell us?"

"How easily would you have believed him?" Roxas replied.

Yugi thought for a moment and shook his head. "You have a good point. I probably wouldn't have believed him. I can believe it now since all that crazy stuff has been going on, but why didn't he just tell us?"

Roxas sighed. "It's against the rules."

"Rules?"

"Every world has its own sense of order," the Nobody explained. "Letting one world interact with one another would disrupt that order, and even though Sora's been to several worlds, he had to learn to adapt to that world in order to protect that order. Every now and then something would slip, but mostly he's been fine and that order has been protected. There are some exceptions to the rule, like Traverse Town, where people would go when their world was destroyed or at least overrun by Heartless. Sora ended up there when his home was destroyed, as you saw in his memory."

Yugi did a double take at Roxas's last sentence. "Wait a minute," he began. "You knew we did that?"

Roxas nodded. "I was watching the whole time, but I didn't interfere. What you saw was the beginning of his world's demise."

"So Sora doesn't have a home?"

"Not quite." Roxas walked a small ways and sat on the bench-seat of the table. "Sora and his friend, Riku, met a girl named Kairi when they were younger. Kairi had somehow fled her home world of Hollow Bastion without knowing it; and ended up on their home world of Destiny Islands. After about seven years, the group became really good friends, and after a lot of daydreaming, they decided to go see other worlds together.

"The oldest of the three, Riku, wanted to go see other worlds just like his friends, but he wanted it most…and in the end, he brought the destruction of the islands himself without even knowing it. He vanished from the islands just before Sora could save him, which was when Sora first got the keyblade. Sora went to find Kairi, but when he found her _she_ disappeared too, and he ended up fighting a giant heartless on the small remaining bit of the islands just before they completely disappeared.

"After that, Sora found himself in Traverse Town, and that's where the whole mess just got messier. Sora didn't know where he was, what had happened to his home or to his friends, or even what to do next. After meeting up with some people who helped him out, he started looking for them, knowing in the back of his mind that they could have been destroyed along with his own world. He ran into them eventually, but ended up losing contact again, so he's still looking."

Yugi took a moment to let it sink in, but he nodded momentarily. "So all this time, he's been looking for his friends, hoping that they weren't gone for good?"

Roxas nodded. "Exactly," he replied. "I guess he also feels guilty that he could have sealed the keyhole to his home world and saved it had he been there soon enough, but Kairi had even lost her own heart. Sometimes he still feels like a failure for that, but he never lets it get to him."

"His own friend lost their heart?" Yugi asked. "But you said he reunited…"

In response, the Nobody simply gestured to the shell charm on the table. "When the heartless attacked Sora's home, Kairi's heart fled from her own body and found sanctuary in Sora's. While Sora managed to find Kairi in his journey, she was like a zombie: never moving or reacting to anything. When Sora found out that Kairi's heart was within himself, he made an enormous sacrifice in order to restore her, but in the process turned himself into a heartless."

"That's when you came, right?" Yugi asked.

Roxas nodded. "When he became a heartless, he left a shell of his former self behind: a Nobody. That Nobody is me."

Yugi rubbed his chin unconsciously. "But how did Sora come back? If he was a heartless, how'd he get back to normal?"

"Kairi called out to him," Roxas replied. "She saw him as a heartless and noticed him acting differently. Even in darkness, he still wanted to find her. Not anything beyond that…just to find her. Because of Kairi, Sora managed to come back to his former self." Roxas looked away. "Now that you know all of this, what will you do?"

There was a moment of silence while Yugi pondered the Nobody's question. "What do you mean, what'll I do?"

"You came to help Sora, didn't you?" Roxas replied, smiling. "So now that you know what's troubling him, how are you going to help him?"

Yugi sighed. Normally, Yami would be able to speak to him via soul room, so maybe he could do the same. Looking upward at the cloudy, rainy skies, he spoke. "Sora, I don't know if you can hear me, but I know you're upset because of what Xaldin said."

_Roxas…?_

"No," Yugi replied, shaking his head. "I'm a friend. Xaldin may have made a dirty threat, but don't be scared."

_I don't know… I don't want another world to disappear…I don't want to lose any more friends._

Yugi knew how Sora felt. The same thing had happened when Marik had been possessed by his darker half; he hadn't known what to feel. After a pause, he remembered something that Yami once told him during a duel when he began to lose hope. "Don't lose focus, Sora. Don't lose faith. We may not know what's out there, but you can overcome it."

_But I don't want to fail again…_

Sora was definitely feeling doubt, Yugi knew that. Even so, he would not give up. He had to help his friend no matter what. "You've been through a lot, I know you have; but you can't give up now. Not after coming this far. You can do it, Sora."

_You're right…thanks._

The storm clouds faded, and the rain ceased. The sun appeared in the sky, shining brightly. Roxas nodded. "Thanks, Yugi. Maybe now Sora will be more confident about this."

"He will," Yugi replied, as he began to walk off. "And Roxas?"

"Yeah?"

"I know it was probably hard for you to tell me all of that, but…thanks."

Roxas nodded. "Sure."

Yugi smiled and left, walking off the island and out of the strange soul room. He winced as the light blinded him again, but when he opened his eyes he was back on the floor in his room, still sitting where he had been when the keyblade appeared, only now the weapon was gone, and Sora seemed to be sleeping much more peacefully. _I guess it worked,_ he thought. _I'm glad I could help him._

There was an odd sound of yawning in Yugi's mind. _What's going on, Yugi? _He heard Yami grumble. _I heard an odd bit of racket in your soul room and for a moment something seemed to be off…_

_Everything's fine, Yami. Sora's calmed down, too._

_He'd better,_ Yami agreed, sounding thoroughly disgruntled._ If I had to swap in the middle of the night for some reason and find he's broken your bed in half from tossing and turning so much I would have given him a penalty game just for that, involving dirty sheets and a lot of rain._

_Get some sleep, Yami,_ Yugi replied, grinning. _You're still cranky because you haven't gotten enough rest._

_Whatever you say, Partner,_ came the half-awake response before Yami's voice finally faded.

Yugi cast another glance at Sora, whom seemed to be sleeping much more peacefully than he had before even on the previous nights. Yugi stretched and lay back down on his own pillow, curling up and getting some shuteye. Once the duelist was asleep, Roxas appeared briefly, smiling back down at him. "Thank you, Yugi," he finally said before vanishing again to get some rest of his own.

* * *

And so ends another chapter in this epic tale. No bloopers this time. I know you guys love the bloopers, but I can't add them anymore. In the epilogue to this story, however, I will be putting all the bloopers in one place so you may read them as much as you like.

Now, then…on to chapter 27! Also, if any of you are interested, I have a new story called "Dark Dueling."


	27. A New Challenge

Sorry for the wait.

Disclaimer: _Yu-Gi-Oh!_ is owned by Kazuki Takahashi. _Kingdom Hearts_ is owned by Tetsuya Nomura and all that.

* * *

**Duel Disks and Keyblades**

**By FlikFreak**

**Chapter Twenty-Seven: A New Challenge**

* * *

The morning sun nearly blinded Yugi when he woke up. As he sat up, he quickly took notice of Roxas sitting at the foot of the bed staring at Sora in amusement. Yugi followed the Nobody's gaze to Sora's face, which instead of being scrunched up in pain and worry as it had been the previous evening, was calm and peaceful. "Looks like you really worked your magic," Roxas said. "He's sleeping like a log."

"If I didn't know any better, I'd say he _was_ a log," Yugi commented.

There was an odd rustling noise in the back of Yugi's mind as the spirit of the millennium puzzle awoke. _What time is it, partner?_

_Time to wake up,_ Yugi replied vaguely. _I don't think Sora's going to be moving anytime soon, though._

_Did that kid finally calm down?_ Yami grumbled. _I got up at some point during the night to check on things and I found him sleeping harder than Jounouchi after a full day of arcade games._

Yugi felt himself grin. _Yeah, he calmed down._

A few moments later, the boy began to stir in the bed, sitting up and stretching like a cat. After the keyblade master rubbed the sleep out of his eyes, he let out a long yawn. Roxas chuckled at the display, smirking at the boy. "Get enough sleep, Sora?"

Sora jumped a bit, now fully awake. "Gah! How long have you been sitting there?!"

"Long enough to hear you muttering in your sleep," Roxas replied. "You have any nightmares?"

"None," Sora replied, sitting sideways on the bed. "You know…for some reason I feel a lot better today."

Yugi and Roxas exchanged glances.

The silence was quickly broken by Jounouchi's loud yawn. After the blonde finally managed to wake up, he rubbed his eyes a few times and slumped forward in what was quite possibly the worst sitting posture anyone could have ever had concerning the future of their spine. Yugi, whom was used to Jounouchi's "waking-up" routine, smiled brightly. "Good morning, Jounouchi," he said. "Sleep well?"

"Gu'mernen," came Jounouchi's muffled greeting before he managed to sit up straight and stretch his limbs. He cast an odd glance to Roxas (whom only quirked an eyebrow in return) and then sighed. "So what's the plan for today? We have only a few more weeks of summer vacation."

Sora shrugged. "I don't know of anything I'd want to do other than get this whole mess over with. Is there anything fun to do around here?"

"We could try the arcade," Yugi suggested weakly. "It's open even on weekends. Besides, the manager knows me and he might give us all a special discount if his boss isn't breathing down his neck."

"Sounds like a plan!" Jounouchi said, throwing a triumphant fist into the air. After a slight hesitation, however, his face took on an odd expression. "But first…can we have some breakfast?"

_Sorcerers, Nobodies, data escapades, fashion disasters, battles, and that strange keyblade…_ Yami appeared next to Yugi, shaking his head. _Aside from that newly found sixth sense of his, Jounouchi hasn't changed one bit._

_You got that right,_ Yugi replied, chuckling. _He wakes up and the first thing he thinks about isn't saving the world, but food._

_He _is_ a self-proclaimed food freak._

"I know there's a conversation going on behind my back," Jounouchi grumbled, sending a glare in Yugi and Yami's direction.

* * *

"Sir, I have a proposition."

Anubis wasn't too entirely pleased to hear this, as he was never fond of things not going as planned, but he nodded anyway. "Go on."

Zexion hesitated. "Sir, the Melodious Nocturne…even with the infusion of combat data…he isn't a very suitable opponent for the Key bearer _or_ Pharaoh."

"We don't have enough time to make a powerful copy," Anubis growled.

"That isn't quite what I have in mind," Zexion replied. "You see, there is a Duel Monsters tournament coming up soon. No doubt the Pharaoh will want to participate. As for the key bearer, if nothing else we can use the Melodious Nocturne to hold him off."

Anubis sneered. "And you suggest we let the Pharaoh do as he pleases?" He demanded.

The Cloaked Schemer paused, but nodded while grinning. "That is what we will have him believe at first," he said. "We will have to make another copy, yes, but I have an idea. Instead of giving him combat data, why not the other data we managed to collect?"

There was a momentary pause as Anubis furrowed his eyebrows. After a few seconds, however, he nodded. "Very well. We will have the Melodious Nocturne face the keyblade master while the Pharaoh is distracted. Who do you suggest as his opponent?"

Zexion grinned.

* * *

Roxas couldn't help but smirk. "I have to say, it fits you."

The keyblade master could care less what his Nobody had to say about Yugi's generosity; he still felt it was a bit much. "Are you sure about this, Yugi?"

"No one in their right mind walks around without one these days," Yugi replied, "Aside from the preps at school and the adults that are more into fashion or finding someone to marry."

_City of Games indeed, _Sora repeated for about the umpteenth time, staring at the cards in his hand. Yugi had spent all morning making a Duel Monsters deck for him. From what he had gathered, many of the cards were light-based, and since he hadn't a clue about Duel Monsters, it was the perfect deck to help him get started. Sora couldn't help but smile. "Thanks, Yugi," He said. "By the way…what was your first deck like?"

While Jounouchi and Sugoroku (whom was cleaning the dishes) exchanged curious glances, Yugi rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. "Grandpa was in a bit of a scrap once in a tournament of sorts and had to get sent to the hospital, so I had to duel in his place with his deck. When Duelist Kingdom came up, I ended up using that same deck again, and since then Grandpa let me keep it."

The moment Sugoroku grinned and turned back to the dishes, Yami appeared standing casually next to Yugi. "Remind me who ended up nearly passing out in the duel against Pegasus?" He teased.

Yugi rolled his eyes. "Knock it off. You know I wasn't fit for something like what he pulled."

Jounouchi, whom apparently knew precisely what they were talking about, gave a weak smile as the two had a playful bickering match (to which Sugoroku was partially oblivious). In an attempt to lighten the mood, he spoke. "So, ever think about dueling, Sora?"

Sora shook his head. "No. Back at home, my friends and I would usually spar with wooden swords and stuff. Kairi was the only one in our group that wasn't into sparring. She would usually just sit around and make stuff with crafts and whatnot. When we couldn't spar, most of us watched TV, and some of us played sports. Tidus and Wakka were into blitzball…I bet they still are." He leaned back in his chair and thought for a moment. "Didn't we play Struggle…?"

Roxas appeared, shaking his head. "No. That would be me."

"Oh, yeah," Sora said a bit lazily. "A few of my friends in Twilight Town play a sparring game called Struggle."

Yugi let out a low whistle. "Geez. You've done a lot of game playing, haven't you?"

Sora shrugged. "I've had to adapt wherever I go," he replied.

"What all have you done?" Sugoroku asked, drying off a few plates.

The keyblade master quirked an eyebrow. "Well, I was in a musical once…I wasn't the lead singer though; I'm pretty terrible at that sort of thing…I've done a few things similar to surfing, too, not to mention countless forms of juggling I've had to do. Fetching stuff for people isn't exactly easy, but I've got a knack for it now." He paused for a moment. "I picked up skateboarding and Struggle from Roxas, and then there's all the odd jobs I've had to do."

"Impressive," Yami commented.

"I agree," Yugi added. "Duel Monsters should be a piece of cake for you to get used to after all that."

"Speaking of which," Sugoroku began as he finished putting away the remainders of the now-clean dinnerware, "There's a small tournament coming up this weekend. The winner gets to design a new Duel Monsters card."

"Sounds like fun," Jounouchi commented, slyly draping his elbow off the back of the chair.

"I won't be participating, as much as I'd like to," Sugoroku said as he left the room. "I have a game shop to attend."

The moment Sugoroku was out the door, Jounouchi leaned in. "I know I'll be registering. How about you, Yugi?"

Yugi sighed. "For once, I'd like to enter a tournament and not have to worry about who's going to take over the world."

"I take it crazy stuff always happens around you?" Sora asked.

"Well," Yugi began, counting off on his fingers, "I solved a puzzle that no one has solved for thousands of years, now share a body of the spirit of an ancient pharaoh, ended up getting involved in multiple shadow games that nearly killed me, watched my grandfather get his soul sucked into a video tape at one point…"

Roxas folded his arms and leaned back a bit. "Sounds pretty crazy if you ask me."

Jounouchi just shrugged. "It's just par for the course if you hang out with Yugi," he said. "This whole Nobody and keyblade thing sure was a surprise, but after what we've had to go through it's not that difficult to deal with."

"You act cool on the outside," Yami said, grinning, "But you can't fool me. You're still nervous about this."

"I still have trouble adjusting to wherever I go," Sora said. "I've seen all sorts of weird stuff."

"And you've _been_ all sorts of weird stuff," Roxas commented.

"He's _been_ stuff?" Yugi asked the Nobody.

Sora waited for Roxas to answer, but the boy only gave him an odd smirk. Sighing, the keyblade master decided he was being left to answer the question himself and began to count off how many forms he had taken on. "Well, let's see…spooky vampire, fish, data, cat, shadow…I shrunk down to about two or three inches tall at some point…that's about it unless you count how many changes of clothes I've had."

"Speaking of that," Jounouchi said, eyeing Sora's attire, "How come your clothes are constantly staying clean?"

In reply, Sora winked and said, "Magic."

Jounouchi apparently thought Sora was kidding, and chuckled for a moment. "Seriously though. How?"

"Magic," Sora repeated, his grin growing broader.

The door to the main shop opened again. "Yugi!" Sugoroku called. "Anzu just called. She said she wants to see you at the café on Senet Street."

"I'll be right there!" Yugi called. Roxas and Yami vanished, leaving the three to head immediately for the front door. As soon as they opened it, however, they were met with an enormous crowd of people wearing duel disks. Yugi winced. "Uh-oh."

On cue, the crowd surged forward. Jounouchi, however, was perfectly capable of pushing them away, especially with Sora's help. People were shouting and pleading for a match with the legendary King of Games, and though Sora had no idea of Yugi's skill he could already understand why. Managing to twist his neck around a bit, he called out to his friend. "Yugi! Go get your things! I'll hold them off!"

Yugi didn't feel like questioning the request. He tore for the back room, racing up the stairs. Once Sora was sure that Yugi was already in the safety of his room, he began channeling energy. It was harder to perform spells without the keyblade's assistance, but it was still possible. A small thunder spell from behind the crowd alerted them, diverting their attention. Once Jounouchi and Sora were free from the crowd's attention, Sora summoned the keyblade and stabbed it into the air with a loud cry of _"Stopga!"_

There was an oddly low pinging sound and the crowd froze in their movements as though time had come to a halt. Jounouchi flexed his hands a few times and glanced at Sora, whom was smirking. "I haven't used that for ages," he explained, grinning. "Feels good to know I haven't gotten rusty."

Moments later, Yugi emerged from the stairs and spared a glance at the front door, wondering why the noise of the crowd had ceased. Amazed to see the crowd unmoving, he began to speak but was silenced when he saw the keyblade in Sora's hands. Nodding, he made a quick and quiet gesture to his friends. "Let's go!"

In quick agreement, the three scurried out the back door and raced down the street. Not long after they did, they heard the crowd buzzing with confusion, and they entered the game shop. Jounouchi rubbed his head. "Are you sure it was a good idea to leave them there?" He asked.

Yugi shrugged. "It's fine. Just means more business for Grandpa. Besides, we can worry about that later. Anzu's waiting for us, remember?"


	28. Double Trouble

Regarding the update status of this fanfiction:

Yes, I know I've slowed down. Rest assured, I _am_ going to update. I have a lot of stuff going on outside of writing, like helping with a fandub, looking for a job, writing other fanfics, and so on. I can understand your eagerness to see the next chapter, but that gives none of you the right to threaten me or similar.

I love getting reviews, and a lot of other authors do too, but I don't go out of my way to ask for them. In fact, I'm not even asking for them at all. If you _are _going to review, however, be mature about it. Tell me what you liked and didn't like if you can pinpoint it out. If you don't want to, that's fine, but don't be retarded. I'm not trying to be rude or anythnig, but I don't particularly like checking my email to see people complaining that I'm not updating fast enough for their taste. Be mature about your reviews or _don't review at all_.

Now that that's out of the way, let me clear up a few things:

_**Regarding Bloopers**_ – The bloopers have not disappeared. I felt that they detracted from the serious elements of the story the way they were being presented. No, they **aren't** being completely removed. They're just being moved to the "index" once the story is complete. It won't really be an index, as it'll be coupled with an epilogue of sorts.

_**Regarding Updates**_ – They're coming slower than before, but they're still coming. See above notes.

_**Regarding the story's progress**_ – I'm not going to say it's nearing completion, but it's beyond the half-way point. I've had some great ideas, but unfortunately I've had to cut them out of the fic. There will be deleted scenes at the end of the fic, also in the "index."

Anyway. On with the fic.

Disclaimer: _Yu-Gi-Oh!_ is owned by Kazuki Takahashi. _Kingdom Hearts_ is owned by Tetsuya Nomura and all that.

* * *

**Duel Disks and Keyblades**

**By FlikFreak**

**Chapter Twenty-Eight: Double Trouble**

* * *

Sora knew Yugi wasn't entirely accustomed to running as much as he had, but then again when you're constantly pursued by heartless and nobodies, not to mention countless human enemies and all that sparring and running around he did before this whole adventure began, running for an extended amount of time was a trivial matter. Jounouchi had split off from the group to meet up with Anzu at the café they were appointed to meet her at, leaving Yugi and Sora to take some serious trekking through Domino City's back alleys to avoid the crowds.

"I don't want to enter that tournament anymore," Yugi whimpered.

"Then I'll enter it for you," Yami commented.

"That's not funny! Even if you enter it in my place, it's my body that's going to be walking around!"

"Why are they following you, anyway?" Sora asked.

Yugi sighed, pulling at the strap on his bag. "They're all after my title as King of Games that I got at Battle City, as well as a few cards in my deck."

_Now that he mentions it,_ Roxas began, _Haven't you felt something odd whenever you go near that bag of his? You know, the one he says his deck is in._

_You've got a good point,_ Sora replied. _Whenever I go near it, it's like there's some sort of power in there…like the keyblade, only a lot stronger._

_Maybe it's the cards he mentioned?_

Yugi glanced around. "Where's Axel?"

"Probably still at the game shop," Roxas replied. "I wouldn't worry about him. He can handle himself, replica or not."

"But can you survive without him?"

Sora and Yugi froze in their tracks, their respective spirit-form friends also halting and gazing about wildly. A portal of darkness appeared in front of them, where two dark-cloaked men strode forth. Sora didn't have to look to know that Yugi had relinquished control to Yami, and his gaze narrowed. "Organization XIII, I assume?"

"Very observant," one of the men replied, tossing his hood back. Blonde hair flat against his skull coupled with a goatee made him easy to recognize.

_The Gambler of Fate,_ Roxas snarled. _Luxord. I always hated his attitude._

_Then who's the other guy?_ Sora asked.

"We don't have time for you," Yami said in exasperation. "Get out of our way unless you're looking forward to a thrashing."

"Can't do that," the other man said, pulling his own hood back to reveal a young face with full, light-brown hair and an oddly nervous smirk. "We're here on orders to take you down, and we won't be failing."

Roxas sighed. _Demyx,_ he grumbled. _He never really was one to fight…what's he doing here now?_

"And just how do you plan on doing that?" Yami replied.

"Easy," Luxord replied as both he and Demyx brandished their arms, and for the first time Sora noticed that they were wearing Duel Disks. No matter how wide his eyes went, however, it wouldn't stop the taunting. "We're challenging you two to a duel."

* * *

Axel sliced through another Dusk and raced down the street. Sora and Yugi had gone, and according to Jounouchi were heading for shelter at the museum until the crowd waned. The mob of duelists following them would never go there, and Yugi felt it to be a safe place. The problem was that he had sensed more replicas heading their way, and there was no telling when another sphinx would appear.

The sound of footsteps caught Axel's ear. Whipping around, he readied his chakrams for a flaming attack-

"Whoa! Take it easy, it's just me!"

The Nobody froze for a moment and relaxed. "Marik," he began. "Still around I see?"

The Egyptian nodded. "I've been looking for Yugi. Have you seen him?"

"He was almost mobbed by some duelists earlier according to Jounouchi," Axel replied. "They're on their way to the Museum for cover until the crowds thin out so they can go to the café to meet Anzu."

"I need to find him right away," Marik said, somehow calm while still sounding frantic. "It's an emergency."

As though on cue, an entire horde of Dusks appeared. Axel readied an attack. "Looks like we'll have to deal with these guys first," He grumbled. "Get ready!"

* * *

Sora didn't know why Yugi was carrying around a spare Duel Disk – maybe he was expecting Sora to enter the tournament as well and saved it for him – but it was all the more convenient. Knowing Demyx, he'd probably base his own deck on either water or music, but who knew what Luxord was thinking…

"Name your terms," Yami commanded.

Luxord apparently had no qualms with this. "We both start at four thousand life points," he began. "If you win, we'll leave you alone. If we win, you give us the Egyptian God Cards, the Puzzle, and the Keyblade."

"Doesn't sound like a fair trade," Sora whispered to Yami. The moment he did, however, he ceased his doubts. By that look in his eye, the Pharaoh was definitely planning something.

"We'll take you on that bet," Yami said darkly, "But know this: you'll be betting a lot more than you think." With that, a dark shield arose around them, similar to the one that Sora had seen in the Shadow Game he had used against Marluxia. "I'll add a few terms of my own. The loser of this game will face the wrath of Anubis himself."

_I can see where he's taking this,_ Roxas noted. _That's not an empty threat._

_Care to explain?_ Sora asked.

_We already know that some guy named Anubis is their boss,_ The Nobody explained. _If we lose, technically we die, and we'll face death. In Egyptian Mythology, Anubis was the lord of the dead somewhat. If they lose, their boss, who named himself after Anubis, won't be too happy with them._

_Clever indeed._

"We'll start things off," Luxord stated, drawing his hand. "I place one card face-down and place Roulette Barrel in defense mode!"

Sora scowled at the child-like machine cannon that appeared before him. The defense points of that monster were pretty high for a low-level monster; he had nothing to match it.

Demyx smirked. "I summon Gora, Turtle of Illusion!" In a flash of light, a semi-transparent tortoise appeared, its body an oddly mesmerizing blend of warm colors.

"Seen this one before?" Sora asked.

Yami shook his head. "No, I've never played against it, but I know its effect. It's not effected by our spells or traps. Thankfully, it's got a weak attack power, so we can get rid of it easily."

But Demyx wasn't done. "And next, I'll play the field magic, Legendary Ocean!"

The Pharaoh bit his lip. "I take that back."

The ground underneath the duelists began to flood with a sparkling water, in spite of the fact that the closed-off arena around them was dark. Demyx grinned; Sora knew that he had an affinity for water; it was to be expected. "This card's name is treated as 'Umi,' and all water-element cards in our hands and on the field are downgraded one level."

_So now he can summon higher-level monsters more easily,_ Roxas groaned. _I don't like this._

"To add to the pain," Demyx continued, "It also raises the attack and defense of all water creatures by two hundred points!" He crossed his arms as well as he could with the duel disk on his arm. "With that, I'll end my turn. It's your move."

Sora and Yami drew their cards. They stole glances at their hands and nodded. Sora went first. "I play two cards face-down!" He announced, placing both cards on the field. "I also play one monster in defense mode!"

Yami took his cue. "I place one card face down and summon Gazelle, the King of Mythical Beasts!" A horned, lion-like beast sprung to life, roaring threateningly. "Gazelle, attack Gora, Turtle of Illusion!"

"Not so fast," Luxord replied just as the lion sprang forth. "I activate Spellbinding Circle!" Luxord's face-down card revealed itself, trapping the lion in a mystic glyph. The attack halted, and Gazelle was left clawing at his confines. "Your attack is negated."

The Pharaoh narrowed his eyes. "With that, we end our turn."

As Demyx and Luxord drew, their grins grew wider. Roxas quickly took notice. _I don't like how this looks,_ he said. _Have any plans?_

_Hopefully,_ Sora replied. _Our life points haven't changed. We still don't know where this is going._

_I agree, but still…Demyx isn't acting like his usual self. Whatever's going on isn't good._

"This was over before it even began," Demyx said, smirking. "I sacrifice Gora, Turtle of Illusion to summon Levia-Dragon Daedalus!"

The tortoise vanished, and in its place appeared a majestic and fierce sea serpent, its skull inlaid with gemstones. Its sharp claws and teeth snapped threateningly at Yami and Sora, and its eyes glared angrily at them. Demys, however, wasn't done. "Now, I use its special effect! I sacrifice Legendary Ocean to destroy all cards on the field except for my Levia-Dragon!"

_Not good!_

The cards on all fields vanished within wisps of vapor, leaving Yami and Sora stunned and defenseless. The Nobodies were grinning. "Levia-Dragon, attack them directly!"

The two duelists braced themselves as a torrent of water slammed into them. When the assault ended, they glanced at their duel disks, noting that their life points had dropped from 4000 to a staggering 1400. Sora could feel Roxas wince. _Got any plans, Sora?_

As Demyx announced the end of his turn and the two duelists drew, Sora narrowed his eyes. _Yeah…but I can only hope it'll work._ He spared a glance at Yami's own hand, instantly formulating a combo. _I only hope he can trust me on this._

_What…?_

Yami went first. There were no monsters he could play, and instead he laid a trap face-down. Sora, knowing precisely what had happened, made his own move. "I play Kaiser Seahorse in Defense Mode," he announced. "Next, I play a magic card: Megamorph. Since our life points are lower, it will double the attack of any monster I choose to equip it to."

"Your monster is in defense mode," Luxord taunted. "That card won't do you any good."

"My monster is," Sora said, "But yours isn't. I'm equipping it to your Levia-Dragon."

At this, Yami shot Sora a pair of very wide and shocked eyes. "Sora, are you insane?!"

Sora ignored him. "Next, I play another equip magic card, Fairy Meteor Crush. This gives the equipped monster the ability to pierce through a defending monster's defense. I'm equipping this to your Levia-Dragon as well."

Luxord and Demyx exchanged glances. Yami, however, was nearly seething. "Sora, you've lost your mind! Why are you powering up _their_ monster and not your own?!"

Once more, the keyblade master ignored the Pharaoh. "Next, I'll place one card face-down. It's your turn." While the nobodies were drawing, he turned and grinned at Yami. "Don't forget," he whispered. "We're working as a team. I know what face-down card you have."

Yami blinked. "You don't suppose…"

Sora nodded. "It'll work. I'll make sure of it."

Demyx and Luxord, however, apparently didn't feel like they were losing. "This is over!" Demyx announced. "First, I play another Legendary Ocean on the field!" The current of water rose again. "Next, my Levia-Dragon attacks your Kaiser Seahorse, piercing its defense, dealing you 3550 damage! You're more than done!" The serpent readied its attack, a great wave appearing and crashing down toward Sora and Yami's last line of defense.

"Not so fast!"

The nobodies were completely caught off guard by the sudden exclamation. "What now?!" Demyx cried. "This is over no matter what card you've drawn!"

"Not quite," Yami replied. "Activate trap: Magic Cylinder!"

Roxas gawked. _No way! Nice shot, Sora!_ The keyblade master simply grinned in reply.

"Wha…" Luxord hesitated. "What are you…"

"This card is like a mirror," Yami explained, "But instead of reflecting your image, it reflects your attack! Prepare yourselves for a whopping fifty-two hundred damage!"

The Nobodies' cries echoed about the closed off arena as the tidal wave backfired, but Demyx grinned. "Don't forget, my Levia-Dragon can destroy all cards on the field if I sacrifice Umi, which Legendary Ocean takes the place of!"

"I don't think so," Sora replied. "Reveal Trap: Skill Drain!"

"Wha…"

"Never heard of it?" Sora replied. "By paying one thousand life points, the effects of all face-up monsters on the field are negated." Sora winced as he and Yami's life points fell from 1400 to a dangerous 400, but his grin did not falter. "Your Levia-Dragon's power won't work now! You lose!"

As though to demonstrate the point, the tidal wave of the Levia-Dragon's attack wavered momentarily, then fell on top of the two nobodies, taking their life points from four thousand all the way to zero. The majestic serpent vanished, as did the rising currents. The duel disks turned off, and the shadow field faded down. Yami approached the two nobodies with a fierce anger on his face. "I don't know what your little group is after, but we can't allow you to get in our way."

"So we lost a game against you," Demyx grumbled. "It doesn't mean we can't beat you the old-fashioned way!" With that, he began to summon water above him.

The wdjat eye appeared on Yami's forehead, and his eyes narrowed. "You don't get it, do you?" he said. "You can't walk away from a Shadow Game without your punishment."

"Wh-"

"_Penalty Game!_"

The two nobodies were thrown back against the wall of the end of the alley, and slowly began vanishing. Eyes cold with anger, Yami spared Sora no glance as he began forward. "Sora, let's hurry."

Sora couldn't agree more. After those two, there was no telling what they'd face next.


	29. Foreboding Visions

Well, here's chapter 29. Not much, but there's a fight coming up.

Disclaimer: _Yu-Gi-Oh!_ is owned by Kazuki Takahashi. _Kingdom Hearts_ is owned by Tetsuya Nomura and all that.

* * *

**Duel Disks and Keyblades**

**By FlikFreak**

**Chapter Twenty-Nine: Foreboding Visions**

* * *

The museum was an odd place to take shelter in according to Sora, but Yugi found no problem with it so long as they stayed away from the tablet. Currently there was an exhibit on Ancient Egypt, which Yami found interesting, but as much as he felt safe, he could not help but feel a strange foreboding even here.

"Anzu's ganna be pretty mad at us," Sora mused quietly as he and Roxas glanced back at the entrance. The museum was practically empty at this time of day, so no one was around to question them for talking to thin air.

Roxas shrugged. "We have to stay in here until that mob disperses. I got a hold of Axel before we left and asked him to make sure to let us know if anything happens, and to tell Anzu that we'll be a bit late."

"A _bit_ late? Don't you think that's an understatement?"

Choosing to ignore his friends for the time being, Yugi proceeded further into the exhibit and took a deep breath. The air in the museum was strangely stale, but he wouldn't have it any other way.

_Relaxing in here, isn't it?_ Yami asked.

_I'm not sure,_ Yugi replied. _When I'm here I sort of feel at peace._

_I've been wondering._

Yugi paused. When Yami said such a phrase, it was always serious. _What's on your mind?_

_It may be just me,_ Yami began, narrowing his eyes and staring at a few nearby artifacts,_ but don't you think it's a bit of a coincidence that Sora appeared right as all of this chaos starts up? Right after he arrived, those creatures appeared, and members of Organization XIII showed up. They hack Kaiba's computer, which Sora helps fix. If you ask me, this is far more than a coincidence._

_But he's not an enemy,_ Yugi pointed out. _After all, they're after him, too._

_But he's hiding something,_ Yami protested. _I trust him as a friend, but I don't think he's telling us everything. He's had a much closer brush to danger than he lets on._

Yugi bit his cheek. He hadn't told Yami about the night he had been pulled into Sora's soul room, where Roxas had told him about the keyblade master's sacrifice to save his own friend. It wasn't exactly the easiest subject that Yugi could talk about, and instead expressed his feeling on it through a strengthened trust in Sora.

_How he can stay so cheerful is completely beyond me,_ Yami continued. _With a heart as battered and beaten as his, I'm surprised he didn't end up like Jounouchi was before._

_You've seen his heart?_ Yugi asked, surprised.

Yami nodded. _The Eye of Truth. It not only saw the deception and mutinous nature of Marluxia when I had called the Shadow Game on him, but I also caught a glimpse of Sora's own heart. He's been through a lot of pain, but he's got plenty of light within to lead him. He has a connection with someone other than Roxas as well. What concerns me is the trouble that surrounds those wounds._

_Maybe it has something to do with that keyblade,_ Yugi noted. _When I held it, it was like holding a Millennium Item. There's a strong power in that thing._

There was a moment of silence, and Yugi could tell that Yami was agreeing with him. Sora hadn't told them very much about the keyblade, only that it was sentient, and that creatures that he had once encountered called the heartless were constantly going after it. Yugi didn't know how strong the Heartless were, but after a short moment of thought he began to wonder if they were the cause of Sora's hardships.

"Yugi, come look at this."

Snapping out of his thoughtful daze, Yugi found Sora and Roxas standing near a mummy on display, staring thoughtfully at the sarcophagus. After walking over, Roxas spared him a glance. "Can you read it?"

"No," Yugi replied, "But I know someone who does."

On cue, Yami appeared, striding forth. Sora and Roxas stepped aside, and the spirit knelt down to read the ancient hieroglyphics. "It looks like a sort of prophecy," he said, beginning to read.

_The eye that sees what's yet to come,_

_Its vision shall be fulfilled;_

_Unless blinded by events predetermined,_

_Thus light and shadows both be killed._

"Any idea what it means?" Yugi asked weakly.

Yami shook his head. "I'm not entirely sure," He replied. "There are some depictions on here of two factions of monsters battling each other."

Sora's face stiffened.

Yugi began to speak when he felt something on his back. In a sudden movement, the boy felt something clawing into his shoulders. A cry of agony barely escaped his lips before he fell into darkness.

* * *

_**Aha sekhemoo…ha nisoo…**_

_Above him were two giant figures: one he recognized as the Millennium Puzzle. The other was a very similar object, except it was a right-side up pyramid in shape, and was blue with a red gem acting as the center of the eye design on the front. All around him, Yugi saw a starry void._

_**Weben anupu…wekhed ta…**_

_A battle raged in front of him, on endless desert sands. Dusks were in the midst of the battle, fighting against dark humanoid creatures with eerily glowing yellow eyes. The darker creatures were winning. In the middle of it all, a jackal-like creature stood, cackling madly._

* * *

Demyx was surprised to find himself alive. When he cracked his eyelids open, he found himself in the same alley that he had cornered the Pharaoh and Key-bearer at. Battles had not worked for Master Anubis, so he had been charged with a duel instead. Due to being given battle data, Demyx was thankfully not destroyed in whatever attack the Pharaoh had thrown at them…but it wasn't enough to withstand it. As he stood, he found himself alone in the alley.

Once again, the keyblade master had shown his cunning in battle. Powering up the enemy just to direct their attacks back at them…a clever defeat. If he ever managed to get back to his master, the Melodious Nocturne would definitely have to share this with him. The boy could not be underestimated.

Maybe it would have been better to attack as the duel ended. Then he could have at least done some damage to either of them. Something about that Pharaoh person just struck him as odd, however. He swore he could have seen something near him…

"You have failed us."

Demyx spun around, startled. He relaxed after seeing that the arrival was none other than Zexion, and grinned. "Zexion…I couldn't stop him, but I-"

"Your failure is inexcusable."

Zexion's words caused Demyx to choke on his own. The look on Zexion's face was that of a cold, silent anger that was even more terrifying than an explosive sort. Next to Zexion was another man cloaked in black, no doubt the newest replica created by Anubis.

The cloaked man spoke. "So, what're we supposed to do with failures again?"

Demyx recognized the voice. That accent, the drawl and dripping sarcasm...it could only be...

Zexion's response was immediate and cool. "We dispose of them."

The last thing Demyx saw was a flash of red racing for him…

* * *

"Yugi! Yugi, wake up!"

The duelist managed to force his eyelids open to see Sora and Yami hovering over him. With a groan, he sat up, rubbing the back of his neck. "What happened?"

"You screamed and went dead to the world," Sora explained rather bluntly. "Yami said he couldn't feel you for a moment."

_Meaning I left my soul room again,_ Yugi thought. _But…how?_

Roxas raced around the corner. "Someone's here!" He called before running for Sora to vanish. "He might have seen me."

"Jounouchi?" Yugi questioned aloud, even when the Nobody vanished.

"Probably," Yami replied, also disappearing.

Sora and Yugi headed for the entrance of the museum to find not only Axel approaching at breakneck speed, but another young man as well. Yugi blinked a few times when he saw who it was. "Marik?" He began. "What's going on?"

"We're under attack!" Axel cried, eyes narrowed seriously.

"_What?!_"

"No time to explain," Marik said in between breaths, "But there's a giant sphinx attacking town, and it's headed right this way!"


	30. Andro Sphinx

Sora will be getting a new summon soon (not including the "final summon" he's getting). Also, Osiris.

Disclaimer: _Yu-Gi-Oh!_ is owned by Kazuki Takahashi. _Kingdom Hearts_ is owned by Tetsuya Nomura and all that.

* * *

**Duel Disks and Keyblades**

**By FlikFreak**

**Chapter Thirty: Andro Sphinx**

* * *

The night was uneasy for Pegasus J Crawford. Even his dreams were troubling him. As he lay in his bed that evening, sleep eluded him until finally he found a place to dream.

He stood in the endless sands of a desert. Above him was a star-filled sky – a beautiful sight to behold. But even as he looked on, the stars began to die out, one by one.

**Peteh…nebw…mer n seshep…**

It continued like a chant. As darkness overtook the sky, a giant keyhole appeared. Pegasus could only watch as the great keyhole began to crack and shatter into countless fragments. As the pieces fell, the world around him began to vanish.

Pegasus shot up from his sleeping position, eyes wide and breath labored. Sweat rolled down the side of his face as he recalled his nightmare.

_Horrifying,_ He commented to himself. _Something like that can't be a normal dream…_

Standing up, Pegasus strode over to his window. The ocean outside – as well as the night sky (full of stars, he noticed) – seemed incredibly peaceful, but the dream still tormented him. Millennium Eye or not, he knew that something terrible was about to unfold before his very eyes.

Quickly putting on his night robe, he strode to a small safe and opened it, pulling out a single Duel Monsters card. After a moment of thought, he placed the card back in the box and picked it up, walking to the phone on his wall and making a call. "I'm terribly sorry to wake you up this late Croquet, but I'm in urgent need of something."

"_Mister Crawford? What do you need?"_

Pegasus narrowed his eyes determinedly. "I need a flight to Japan, specifically Domino City…"

* * *

Yugi and Sora wasted no time in racing out of the museum to the aid of the city. Axel followed in hot pursuit, and Marik wasn't far behind either. The screams of the citizens could be heard for miles, and their fear was not the only thing to be heard. Before the group stood an enormous humanoid beast, armed in ancient Egyptian robes and armor and cloaked in murky brown fur. A golden mane grew gracefully around his face, and a set of sharp claws and teeth added to his arsenal.

Yami immediately wrested control from a terrified Yugi. "This is too much of a coincidence," He stated. "What is that thing?!"

"Andro Sphinx," Axel replied. "It's Anubis's most powerful monster as far as I know."

"Any other tips you'd like to tell us?" Sora asked, groaning.

"Yeah," the redhead replied, readying his chakrams. "A single roar from that thing was enough to wipe out a crowd of Dusks."

_This'll be fun,_ Roxas grumbled.

_Then if it's so much fun why don't _you_ fight it?_

_That's not funny._

Yami readied his duel disk, and Sora summoned the keyblade. This beast was almost bigger than the Groundshaker he had battled in the Pride Lands, but he was sure he could take it down. With a cry, he ran forward.

Andro Sphinx was quick to retaliate. With a single swipe of his claws, he sent Sora flying backward toward a building. Luckily, such an attack was not new to the keyblade master, and in midair he recoiled, performing a somewhat impressive back flip and landing on the ground unharmed.

_Nice one,_ Roxas commented.

_I got that one from you too,_ came Sora's reply. Calling on another skill, he glided through the air toward Andro Sphinx once more.

Below, Yami drew his first card. "Dark Magician Girl, come forth!" In a flash of pink and gold light, a very familiar female sorceress sprang forth, staff at ready.

Sora blinked in surprise. He had been surprised before when Yami summoned Dark Magician, but Dark Magician Girl was even more of a shock. Seeing the person that had saved him from possibly getting killed being commanded like such was rather astonishing, but the way Yami gave his orders was always a stern and respectful way so he had no complaints. Even so, Sora had to voice his recognition. "I know you!" He cried.

Dark Magician Girl spared him a glance and winked, smiling brightly. Yami gave Sora a rather odd look, but all three of them returned their attention to Andro Sphinx. "Dark Magician Girl, attack!"

The response was immediate. Dark Magician Girl raced forth, brandishing her staff and sending a wave of light smashing into Andro Sphinx's leg. In retaliation, the great beast sent a tremendous roar of fury at the young witch, sending her careening through the window of a nearby shop, where she disappeared among the fragments of glass.

"Hey, Andy!" Axel cried. "You got a fever or something? 'cause it's getting pretty hot around here!" With that, he hurled two blazing chakrams at the beast, one slamming into its arm and the other slashing it across the cheek. Enraged, Andro Sphinx swiped the replica with his claws, barreling him into the street corner where he was knocked unconscious against a light pole.

_This isn't good,_ Roxas commented. _Axel's going to be out of commission unless we do something._

_There's no time to get to that,_ Sora protested, narrowing his eyes. _We have to get Andro Sphinx out of the way first! The only thing I can think of to make this easier is Drive, but I can't do that here…_

_Why not?_

_Drive only worked with certain people…I'm not even sure I can pull it off!_

_Then we'll just have to give it all we've got without Drive's help…_

As Sora readied his next strike, Yami drew another card. The moment he laid his fingers on it, the air began to pulse violently with an immense power, causing Sora to stagger momentarily and Yami to flinch. For the briefest of moments, Sora thought he could hear (and even see) an electric shock jolting Yami's arm. After a momentary pause, however, Yami's visage stiffened. He drew the card, gazing briefly at it before playing it. "Come forth!" He cried. "Slifer, the Sky Dragon!"

Storm clouds gathered, and thunder swept through the air. For a moment, Sora was unable to hear anything, but after just a small amount of time, an enormous red serpent began to descend from the sky. Its spine was lined with deadly spikes, and a pair of wings rested on its back. Two jaws rested on its head, both lined with razor sharp teeth. Wickedly curved talons rested on its paws, ready to slice anything in its way. Overall, the creature was magnificent and terrifying to behold.

_What is that?!_ Roxas cried.

Sora shook his head. _Whatever it is, it's incredibly powerful…I can just feel it somehow._

Yami's expression became more serious and aggressive than Sora had ever seen before. "Slifer, attack!"

The dragon roared, and sent a beam of white-hot flame slamming into Andro Sphinx. The great beast roared in pain as he burned alive, and a light flooded the area. A warmth seemed to wrap around Sora and protect him from the blast, but discerning from the chaotic sounds around him, the keyblade master knew that Andro Sphinx was not so fortunate. When the light and flames faded, all that was left of the sphinx was a smoking crater.

Sora gawked at the spectacle before him, but when he looked upward, Slifer was nowhere to be seen. Yugi had taken control and was flipping off his Duel Disk. Marik, meanwhile, was busy waking up Axel. "What was that?" Sora asked.

"What was what?" Yugi asked innocently.

"That dragon," Sora replied. He knew Yugi could feel that power when the card was drawn; there was no hiding it.

Yugi looked away thoughtfully. "An Egyptian God Card," he replied. "There are three…that one was Slifer, the Sky Dragon." There was a moments hesitation. "They're the most powerful cards in Duel Monsters, but there's some purpose they serve beyond the game, I'm just not sure what yet…"

"Aren't we forgetting something?" Axel said, now having finally awoken from his stupor.

Sora and Yugi exchanged glances before the answer came. "Anzu's still waiting for us!" Sora cried.

"Oh boy…" Marik grumbled. "You guys had better hurry."

Axel, Yugi and Sora tore down the street. If Anzu didn't chastise them first, they had a lot to discuss about the current state of the Organization and their new leader. Sora could only hope that this wasn't the end, but he knew very well that his escapades with the replicas were far from over.


	31. Restaurant Rendezvous

Well, I told you someone with silver hair was going to show up. Pegasus doesn't really have silver hair...it's more on the purple side...but it's silver enough.

Disclaimer: _Yu-Gi-Oh!_ is owned by Kazuki Takahashi. _Kingdom Hearts_ is owned by Tetsuya Nomura and all that.

* * *

**Duel Disks and Keyblades**

**By FlikFreak**

**Chapter Thirty-One: Restaurant Rendezvous**

* * *

"So, Andro Sphinx has fallen…"

Zexion nodded. "That seems to be the case, Master."

Anubis furrowed his eyebrows in thought. "Who is responsible for this?"

"The Pharaoh, sir. He summoned the Sky Dragon, Slifer…"

At the sound of that name, Anubis felt his rage growing. "Slifer," he echoed, quiet yet angry. "So now he has resorted to consulting the Egyptian Gods…" After a moment of contemplation, he began to laugh. "Do you know what this means, Cloaked Schemer?"

Zexion shook his head. "N-No, sir…?"

"It means that he has run out of options!" Anubis cried, his deliciously manic ecstasy overriding his anger at the loss of one of his most powerful minions. "He is running out of tools to use to stop us! Now, once I use my Pyramid of Light, nothing will be able to stop me!" After a strange moment of eerie silence, his gaze became fierce once more. "I must now gather my powers to summon my ultimate minion. In the meantime, I have another task for you…"

"Yes, master?" Zexion inquired, bowing politely.

Anubis grinned. "You will have your turn soon enough, Zexion. First, I believe weakening the key bearer is necessary…and I happen to know just the man for the job…"

A cloaked figure nearby tossed back his hood as he strode forward, grinning sarcastically. An eye-patch covered one of his eyes, and dual-toned hair lay flat against his skull. "Freeshooter, at your service…"

* * *

Sora hadn't ever had an easy time dealing with angry people. Donald had a tendency to vent his anger via Firaga, and unfortunately either Sora or Goofy ended up being his target most of the time. Hades had a _very_ explosive temper, and Sora never got out of any of the Queen of Hearts's tantrums without having to utilize a few Curagas and potions. Even Tinkerbelle was known for having a short fuse. None of them, however, could even closely compare to what he was experiencing now.

"Where the hell _were_ you two?! You had me worried sick that those white things had attacked and killed you!"

Yugi winced. "Sorry, Anzu…we kinda ran into a few proble-"

"That's no excuse!" The brunette replied angrily. "You should have known better than to walk out in the daylight right as a tournament is announced! People will set up an ante-rule duels all over the place to get your cards!"

_She's scary,_ Roxas commented.

Sora nodded. _Yeah. If she were the keyblade master, those Nobodies would be running in terror._

_Judging by the tone in her voice right now, I can see why…_

Axel quickly intervened. "What matters is we're all in one piece, right?" He said, an oddly frantic tone in his voice. "Besides, it didn't really help that we were attacked…"

There was an odd silence, and Anzu gave a loud sigh. "Yugi, we've been friends since we were little kids…even though I know you can take care of yourself now, you still worry me a whole lot when something like this happens."

Yugi looked nervously away. "Anzu, you don't have to worry…I'm not alone. Everyone's always with me, remember?"

Anzu's visage softened, and Sora could barely see her smiling. "I know, but still…"

It was then that Sora noticed Axel, Yami and Roxas staring at him. He glanced back, confused. "What?"

_Don't 'what' us, _Roxas teased. _We know precisely what's on your mind._

"Eh?"

_You can't fool us, _Yami added, grinning. _You're thinking of someone _very_ special, aren't you?_

Sora shook his head a bit in denial. "What are you talking about? I'm not-"

Axel leaned casually on Sora's shoulder. "Perhaps this person is…a certain princess?"

The keyblade master was about to deny the replica's words when his mind remained stuck on the last few words. A princess…a princess of heart, maybe… Well, he _did _miss her a lot. Maybe one day he could-

_Ooooh, he's thinking about Kairi!_ Roxas announced grandly, causing Sora to flinch, which in turn caused a few customers to stare at him oddly.

"Wha…you aren't supposed to tell anyone that!" Sora growled at his nobody, face red in humiliation.

_What's this?_ Yami proclaimed, a devious and rare smirk appearing on his face. _The keyblade master is _in love_ with someone? How romantic!_

Sora flailed indignantly. "Not you too, Yami!" he cried.

Yugi and Anzu glanced blankly back at the spastic tantrum Sora was hurling about. "Erm…is there something going on I don't know about?" Anzu asked.

The duelist next to her just chuckled. "Maybe."

The moment was shattered, however, when the door of the café opened once more and a familiar face walked in. Sora hesitated momentarily, and Axel paused, straightening up. Anzu stiffened noticeably, narrowing her gaze, and Yugi immediately changed places with Yami. The person that had walked in wore a wine-red business suit, and had long silver hair covering half his face. A narrow and sly gaze focused in on the small group of friends, his hand clutching a small briefcase.

_Who's he?_ Roxas asked.

_I don't know,_ Sora replied,_ But I think Yami does, and judging by the look on his face I don't think they get along very well._

"Well, isn't this convenient!" The man exclaimed in abundant flamboyance. "I never expected to see _you_ here, Yugi-boy!"

"Pegasus J Crawford," Yami replied darkly. "What do you want?"

While Sora could tell the two weren't exactly friends, he knew that they were not enemies either. They knew each other but definitely didn't get along. Glancing to the side, he noticed Yugi in spirit form looking on calmly. _Don't worry,_ he said. _Pegasus has done some pretty bad things in the past, but he's trustworthy. Yami's still a bit wary around him, that's all._

"There's no need to be rash," the man replied cheerfully before his tone of voice changed into something much more dark and serious. "I came here specifically to see Pharaoh-boy about something."

At this, Yami hesitated. Pegasus had at times taunted him, but when he took on this tone of voice he meant serious business. Something had to be direly wrong for someone to directly ask for him instead of referring to Yugi. "I'm listening."

"Are you familiar with a Millennium Item called the Pyramid of Light?"

Yami shook his head, beginning to voice a denial when Axel spoke up. "I do." After Pegasus nodded, he continued. "A sorcerer named Anubis is using it to control creatures called Nobodies. Right now I'm not sure of his goal, but he's only targeting Yugi and Sora."

"Sora?" Pegasus repeated.

In response, Sora stepped forward. "That would be me."

The man approached Sora cautiously. As he did, Sora noticed a look in the man's eye that seemed to know exactly what was going on beyond the turmoil he had constantly fought. This man was intelligent. As Pegasus crossed his arms, he spoke. "Sora…I was informed about you."

Needless to say, everyone was shocked, Sora most of all. "You…informed of what?"

"I believe you may have met someone before you came to…Domino city." There was a pause as Pegasus began his description. "A dark complexion, Egyptian robes, a turban a necklace shaped like an ankh. Sound familiar?"

Sora's eyes widened. He had met a man just like that before he came to this world, and apparently Pegasus was familiar with him. "Yeah."

"I see." Pegasus seemed lost in thought, and there was another uncomfortable silence before he spoke again. "You have a Duel Monsters deck, am I correct?"

"Yeah."

"May I see it?"

Hesitant, Sora pulled his deck out of his pocket and handed it to the strange man. Pegasus quickly sifted through it – giving much thought to each and every single card without taking more than a split second to gaze upon one – and soon handed it back to Sora. "You have a good deck, Sora, but it holds no power if you do not trust it."

"Eh…?"

"As Yugi once put it," Pegasus began, glancing back to an equally surprised Yami, "There is a thing called the 'Heart of the Cards.' If you trust your cards or call out to them, they will respond strongly to your will. Especially that dragon of yours…"

At first, Sora wasn't sure what the man meant, but he quickly recalled. One of his cards, Hyozanryu, was a dragon that he picked mainly because of how it looked, but he was very pleased to know that it was also powerful when played well. For some strange reason, he felt a strong need to put it in his deck, much like how Yugi mentioned his own bond of sorts with the Dark Magician.

"Call out, and they will answer you," Pegasus repeated, his gaze momentarily flickering to where Roxas stood. "But be cautious. You have power, Sora. Learn to control it…or _it_ will control _you_."

"Is there something you've been meaning to tell us, Pegasus?" Yami asked before Sora could inquire as to what the man was talking about.

"Yes," Pegasus responded. "The other night I thought I had a terrible nightmare when in fact it was a vision."

_A vision?_ Yugi echoed.

"The stars in the sky were fading one by one, and a keyhole shape appeared there. A strange dark force overtook it, and it shattered, and the world around me began to do the same."

Sora felt himself go rigid. He knew exactly what that meant.

Pegasus shot a knowing glance at Sora before turning back to Yami. "I don't know what it means, but I am here to lend you some help. Seeing how Sora is finally here as I was informed, I am to give him something." Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out a card, protected and concealed by a special card cover, and handed it to Sora. "You must not use this until you are strong enough."

"And when will that be?" Sora asked suspiciously.

"When you have overcome one of your fears," Pegasus responded. "At any rate, I have other business to attend to. Take care, Yugi-boy." With that, he left.

"Can we trust him?" Axel asked immediately after the doors closed.

Yugi, whom had taken control back when Pegasus left, nodded. "Yeah. He's hard to forgive after what he's done, but he's definitely trustworthy."

A phone began to ring, breaking the conversation up. Anzu pulled a pink cell phone from her pocket, answering it. "Anzu Mazaki…who?" The frantic expression on the girl's face caught Yugi and Sora's attention as she continued. "Got it. I'll tell them." She hung up, eyes widening in fright. "Sora, Yugi…that was Kaiba just now. He wants you to go to Kaibaland right away."

"What's going on?" Axel asked.

"I don't know," Anzu replied, "But judging by his tone of voice and all the noise in the background, things don't sound too good!"


	32. The Taint of Darkness

The final battles draw near.

Disclaimer: _Yu-Gi-Oh!_ is owned by Kazuki Takahashi. _Kingdom Hearts_ is owned by Tetsuya Nomura and all that.

* * *

**Duel Disks and Keyblades**

**By FlikFreak**

**Chapter Thirty-Two: The Taint of Darkness**

* * *

Mokuba looked on in terror as the courtyard to the Kaibaland tower became flooded with white monsters. His older brother had narrowed his eyes and contacted Yugi immediately, but would not admit to several things. Even so, Mokuba knew that Seto was frightened and knew that Yugi and Sora would be able to handle it. But what were these creatures after…?

"Mokuba, you'll get hurt if those things decide to break in through the window."

Heeding his brother's advice, the raven-haired boy stepped away from the window and pressed his back against the wall. "What's going on, Seto?!"

Kaiba narrowed his eyes. "I got a visit from Marik earlier. He told me to be on my guard and call Yugi if anything like this happens."

"But what about the monsters?" Mokuba cried.

There was an odd moment of hesitance. Seto looked very reluctant to speak, the same way he had acted after Battle City. Even so, he replied. "Ishtar said that those monsters are supposedly under the command of some sorcerer who's trying to get rid of Yugi and Sora, and now he's getting desperate and launching a full-scale attack on the entire city in hopes of getting their attention."

Seto had spoken with an odd tone of expertise in his voice as though he were a tactics personnel in an army. Mokuba didn't have to wonder if his brother was right; Yugi and Sora would come. There was no 'what if' about it.

The only thing he really wondered about was that odd man cloaked in black standing among the crowd of white creatures, two vaguely firearm-resembling objects in his hands…

* * *

Marik had left, running for the hotel he stayed at to find his sister Ishizu. Axel accompanied Sora and Yugi in their race for the Kaibaland tower while Anzu remained behind to contact everyone else. There were countless dusks on the way there, but Sora and Yugi (whom had swapped with Yami and summoned Celtic Guardian) had no problem dispatching them. Even as they ran, however, a foreboding feeling descended upon the former Pharaoh.

_What's wrong?_ Yugi asked.

_Something doesn't feel right,_ Yami responded. _I have a bad feeling about this call. This may be a trap._

Yugi, in spirit form, furrowed his eyebrows. _Now that you mention it, this does seem suspicious. The start of the tournament and all, and all these attacks are being launched all around us._

Yami could do nothing but agree. If he could trust anything, he could trust Yugi's instincts. The boy might have lacked strength in the Shadow Realm but he made up for it with an oddly powerful intuition. It was something they shared more closely than any of their other traits: if they had a bad feeling about something, they were usually right.

"About time you got here, Roxas."

_The Organization!_ Yugi cried.

Sure enough, there stood a cloaked man, his face adorned with an eye patch over one eye and dual-toned hair, complete with a smirk already dripping with sarcasm. Yami wasted no time in demanding answers. "What do you want, Nobody?"

"Nothing from _you_," the man replied, smirking. "I'm here for Sora."

Sora hesitated only for a brief moment before his eyes narrowed and he summoned the keyblade, gripping it tightly. "What do you want, Xigbar?"

"I'm supposed to take you out on orders from that Anubis guy," Xigbar replied. "But to tell you the truth, that's a bit boring for me. I'm here for my own agenda."

_Yami, what's this guy going on about?_ Yugi asked.

Yami appeared in spirit form and shook his head. _I can't tell. From what I can see without the Eye of Truth, he's clinging to the past in some way. I'm not sure, but if he's still calling Sora 'Roxas'…_

Yugi didn't need that statement to continue. He knew where this was going.

"You remember your friends from Twilight Town, right Roxas?" Xigbar taunted

"They're _my_ friends, too!" Sora protested. "What have you done to them?"

"What about _your_ friends, Sora? You remember them…Selphie, Tidus, Wakka…and who were those other two?"

There was a moment where Sora's expression faltered. "Riku and Kairi…"

_Riku?_ Yugi questioned. _But that was the guy that destroyed Sora's home…wouldn't he be mad at him?_

_What are you talking about?_ Yami asked.

Yugi felt himself stiffen. He hadn't told Yami about what had happened the night he was drawn into Sora's soul room following the bout with Xaldin. _Yami, I have a bad feeling about this._

Yami nodded, taking over. _Way ahead of you._

Xigbar smirked. "While you've been running around with mister King of Games here, your friends have been fighting for their lives on their home _worlds_, against an army of heartless."

_Worlds?_ Yami echoed. Yugi winced; Yami hadn't known about that either, and Roxas had specifically told him it was wrong to let that information out…what was this man planning?

Sora brandished the keyblade, ready to strike at any given moment. "You…what have you done to them?!" He shouted furiously.

Roxas appeared next to the keyblade master, looking thoroughly worried. _Sora, what's going on?_ He asked, eyes wide.

_Roxas,_ Yugi called, in spirit form. _What's wrong?_

The nobody shook his head. _I don't know!_ He replied. _He's not listening to me…it's like I've been cut off!_

"Why ask me?" Xigbar replied, resting one of his guns on his shoulder. "I'm not the one in charge here. There is, however, one person we couldn't manage to find…"

"Who?!" Sora demanded. "Answer me!"

"Now, that tone of voice is _totally_ uncalled for," Xigbar reprimanded mockingly. "But if you want to know that badly, we couldn't get a hold of Riku."

"What do you-"

"He's gone," Xigbar continued, cutting him off. "Not on Destiny Islands, not in Twilight Town, not in Traverse Town. We can't find him _anywhere_. He's as good as a Heartless now."

Yugi and Roxas noticed something surrounding Sora: a tainted aura of malevolence and anger. Yugi remembered it all too well; when Marik had lost himself in Battle City, the same aura had surrounded him. For Sora, it could only be much worse, especially considering what had happened to the boy some time ago.

"You did this," Sora growled accusingly. "You…you'll _pay_!"

_Sora, no!_ Roxas cried. _Don't let him fool you!_

"You could have _helped_ them," Xigbar taunted, "But here you are playing around with your little _replacements_…you can't save them. You can't save _anyone_."

That was the last straw. There was a furious, inhuman scream from Sora as a wave of darkness flooded the immediate area. His form soon vanished, being replaced with a hideous mockery of himself. A pitch-black form of the boy now stood in place of the once-brave warrior. His eyes glowed an eerie yellow, and black mist seemed to flow up from his body as though the darkness could not be contained within. His stance was absolutely feral, and Yugi could feel a foreboding and dark power resonating off of him. To add to the horror, Roxas was nowhere to be seen.

"What's going on?!" Yami cried. "Sora, what's wrong?"

Xigbar let out a hysterical laugh. "Now _this_ is more like it!" he declared, readying his guns. "Come on, you pathetic _heartless_…hit me with your best shot!"

A feral screech tore from Sora's throat as he lunged forward at top speed, on all fours. Xigbar barely had time to jump out of the way before the shadowy keyblade master launched himself at him, claws and fangs bared. Yugi had never felt so much fear from anything as the scene before him: his own friend becoming a beast, ruthlessly attacking something. How could someone so cheerful…

_Yugi, get back. Now._

The duelist had no protest to that. He immediately slunk out of spirit form and into the puzzle once more, perfectly content to peek out through there. Sora had gone completely feral, tackling Xigbar in the most ferocious way he had ever seen in his life. The Nobody could barely keep up. What's more, Roxas was gone…and neither Yami nor Yugi could feel him.

Nearby, Axel stood, completely dumbfounded. His eyes were wide in shock, and he had dismissed his chakrams. "Roxas…?" He muttered. "Where is he?"

"You can't feel him either?" Yami asked, eyes narrowed.

Axel shook his head. "No. He's being cut off. This must've been what Xigbar was after."

"What do you mean?"

"Roxas betrayed and left Organization XIII because he couldn't get the answers he wanted," Axel quickly explained as the darkened form of Sora continued to wage battle against Xigbar. "He wanted to know why he had the keyblade, and who Sora was. Eventually, he never found that, and left. The Organization had only used him the entire time, and wanted him to either come back or they would destroy him. Before Sora took down the real Organization, they were trying to draw Roxas out, but it never worked, so they decided to kill him instead."

"_Kill_ him?"

"Yeah…and now it looks like they've at least found a way to block him off." With that, Axel readied his chakrams. "As long as Sora is fighting, he'll be trapped in that state. We've gatta snap him out of it!"

Disagreement was not an option. Yami whipped out his Duel Disk, sending an absent prayer to Osiris for help in saving his friend. Axel readied his chakrams, flaming embers already beginning to rise.

With Sora in such a berserk state, it was not long before Xigbar fell. When he was finally struck down and beginning to disappear, he only smirked. "Mission complete," He muttered. He never had the chance to say more; Sora lunged at his vanishing form, ripping apart the remainders of the nobody's shell of a body. When the said target had vanished, he turned his attention to Yami and Axel.

"Be ready!" Axel cried.

_I don't want to fight him!_ Yugi cried. _Not Sora! He's my friend!_

_He's _my_ friend, too,_ Yami replied, _But this is the only way to snap him out of it._ He drew a card, biting his lip. Before he could even play it, however, Sora had lunged, lashing out at Yami with razor-sharp claws.

"He's out of control!" Axel shouted. He leapt forward, throwing the crazed keyblade master off of Yami. The Pharaoh stood, wiping away some blood from a claw mark on his cheek, and stared at the card in his hand.

_Magic Cylinder,_ he commented.

_That's got to be it,_ Yugi replied frantically. He remembered that card's last use against the duel with Demyx and Luxord: Sora had set up the field to lure Demyx into attacking, only to have Yami use Magic Cylinder and deflect the attack right back at them. Maybe if they used it now, it would snap Sora out of his daze.

_It's our only hope,_ Yami said, agreeing. Sora had ruthlessly thrown Axel off of himself, sending the Nobody tumbling into a pile of rubble that had been created during the ruthless attack on Xigbar. With Axel out of the way, Sora sent a pulsating wave at Yami, whom quickly deflected it with Magic Cylinder. The darkness reflected back, slamming into the keyblade master and sending him skidding backward.

Yugi winced noticeably at the sight of his own friend, crazed or not, being thrown backward. _Will he be okay?_ He asked.

_He'll be fine, _Yami replied, putting the used trap card in the graveyard slot of his duel disk. _We need just a bit more time so we-_ The Pharaoh could not finish his sentence, as Sora had quickly recovered from the blast and was running straight at him. He reached for his deck, but Sora was too fast, and pinned him against a building, fangs bared. Jerked out of control suddenly, Yugi found himself face-to-face with Sora's darkened form.

_This may not help,_ he said, _But it's worth a shot._

_Yugi, what are you-_

"Sora, what's going on?!" Yugi cried. Sora, whom had looked about ready to tear his own friend apart, hesitated momentarily. A spark of hope in his mind, Yugi continued. "Don't listen to Xigbar! He's just trying to work you up! I know you're mad at him, but you've got to come back to your senses!"

Axel stared incredulously at Yugi. They had swapped places, and now the foolish boy was trying to sort things out with _words_. What was he thinking? Even as he watched, however, the frienzied monster's face began to soften into realization.

"Sora, I know you're in there somewhere!" Yugi cried. "You're my friend! You know me…you _trust_ me…"

He knew it would work. Yugi believed in his friends more than anything. It was only moments before Sora's face finally softened into what it used to be. At the same time, he spoke, his voice twisted by the darkness still. "Yu…gi…?"

Yugi nodded. In a strange flash of light, the darkness dispelled from Sora, whom fell to his knees, gasping for breath. With the vanishing darkness, Yugi could once more sense Roxas; they had succeeded. Walking quietly over to his friend, he knelt down to attempt and steady his trembling form. "Sora, are you alright?"

It was probably the world's stupidest question: Sora looked far from alright. His breath was labored, his body was shaking, and his eyes were wide in shock. "I don't know," the boy replied. "Everything seems so far away right now…"

_This must be what Pegasus meant,_ Yami noted.

_What do you mean?_

"_Control your power or it will control you." That's what he said back at the café._

**Heka…ee…as…**

Everyone froze in their tracks as the otherworldly chanting reached their ears. The world around them began to shake, and a murky, black ooze began to creep into a large puddle before them, rising and taking the form of two familiar sphinxes before merging together.

"I don't like this!" Axel shouted, gripping his chakrams tightly. Their flame began to rise as a horrifying creature appeared before them.

**Peteh..nebw…mer n seshep…**

The wraithlike chant continued as the slime began to slide away, revealing a monstrous creature with the torso of Andro Sphinx, the back of his head occupied by Sphinx Teleia's menacing yet beautiful visage. His body was that of a snow-white lion with eagle-like wings and razor-sharp claws.

"I never thought I'd see it!" Axel cried in horror. "It's Theinien, the Great Sphinx!"


	33. Theinien, the Great Sphinx

Good heavens, is that Fina-

Disclaimer: _Yu-Gi-Oh!_ is owned by Kazuki Takahashi. _Kingdom Hearts_ is owned by Tetsuya Nomura and all that.

* * *

**Duel Disks and Keyblades**

**By FlikFreak**

**Chapter Thirty-Three: Theinien, the Great Sphinx**

* * *

It was bad enough that Sora had been jolted out of his trance from the darkness to come back feeling immensely weakened. One minute he had gone completely feral and mad, the next he was on the ground trembling from shock. He had been so angry with Xigbar he must have completely lost his mind for a while. In looking around, he even saw a set of suspicious claw marks on Yugi's face. No one else could have done that. _Why…why me?_

"Sora! Snap out of it!"

The keyblade master dragged his gaze upward. Yugi – not Yami, the real Yugi – was trying to break him from his stupor, and apparently had succeeded. Sora still felt out-of-touch with the world around him, but things were coming back. A mysterious chant, a monster rising before him, and Yugi standing over him, trying to calm him; it was all coming back. "Yugi…what's going on?"

"Save your questions for later!" Axel cried, hurling his chakrams at the great sphinx. The monster simply swatted them away like flies, and Axel barely managed to catch them again. Sora could hear the assassin swear before he ran in attempt to dodge a blast of shadows.

Yugi switched places with Yami. "Sora, get up!" He cried, attempting to pull the beast's attention away from Axel. "This isn't the time for brooding!"

But he was too late. Theinien had taken this opportunity to strike, and his claws made their way for Sora. As soon as they closed in, however, Sora felt himself leaping into the air and dodging to the side, landing nimbly on his feet. The world came in a rush around him; his senses all returning to him at once. He blinked a few times before summoning the keyblade. _Roxas?_

_About time!_ Came the frantic response. _You got so angry earlier that I couldn't reach you!_

Sora winced. _Sorry about that…_

He could feel Roxas crossing his arms, ready to reprimand. _You're lucky you snapped out of it by the time that sphinx showed up. If I hadn't gotten you to dodge in time you'd be in pieces right now._

Of course. Roxas didn't have the same kind of connection with Sora as Yami and Yugi. While the two duelists were more of a partner relationship, Roxas's relationship was a bit more parasitic. He had pulled Sora out of his stupor by dodging a blow from the sphinx. Observing the battlefield for only moments, he tightened his grip on the keyblade. _Looks like we'll have to save the discussion for later,_ he grumbled. _But how are we going to beat something this big?_

_If Yami manages to summon Slifer again, we may have a chance._

_Gee, I sure hope so…_

A blast of shadow magic interrupted their conversation, and Sora dodged aside. Another wave came, but Axel threw another flaming chakram to intercept it. "Come on," he shouted. "Let's beat this thing before it turns us into sushi!"

"I've already _been_ a fish before!" Sora interjected as he deflected another blast of darkness. "What's the point in doing that all over again?"

"I don't think that counts!" Yami replied as he drew a card and summoned the Dark Magician subsequently after. "Any ideas on how to take this guy down?"

"None!" Axel replied, shooting another chakram, only to have it miss. "Anubis must've fused his two sphinxes! This kitten won't be easy to take down!"

"What about using that dragon again?" Sora cried, racing toward Yami's immediate area. "If it took down Andro Sphinx, we should be able to take down this guy with it!"

"If I can draw him in time," Yami muttered, drawing another card. Whatever it was, it was definitely something odd, but he placed the card on his Duel Disk anyway. "Come forth, Kuriboh!"

In a small shower of sparkles, a familiar-looking ball of chestnut fur appeared. For a brief moment, Axel and Sora both gave the creature an odd look, but their attention quickly refocused on the sphinx. Roxas rubbed his chin. _How's that little furball going to help us?_

_He's helped me before,_ Sora replied. _I know him, even…_

"Someone care to tell me why a giant monster is trampling through the Kaibaland courtyard?"

All eyes – even the sphinx – shifted to a new arrival. Nearby, armed and ready with a rusty pipe, was none other than Jounouchi Katsuya. Yami's eyes widened. "Jounouchi! What are you doing here?!"

"Don't look at me!" Jounouchi replied. "Anzu's the one that insisted I check on you!"

"Anzu…?"

"Yeah. She said something about you guys being in big trouble. She was right on the mark."

"Enough small talk!" Axel shouted. "Let's kill this thing already!" Launching his chakrams again, one sliced through the beast's ear, and another into its eye. There was an anguished roar, and Dark Magician blasted the monstrosity with a wave of dark magic. Even though the beast swayed, however, it didn't even seem scratched.

_I don't like this,_ Sora groaned. _This thing is even bigger than Groundshaker, and it's twice as fast._

_Sora…look._

He did. Kuriboh was hovering in front of him as though in some sort of attempt to protect him. That, or maybe he had a different intent. Whatever it was, Sora had faith in the little fuzzball. He knew the creature had a big heart for his size, and it was just as intelligent.

Theinien apparently was fed up with the pests attacking him. With a swipe of his claw, he sent Axel soaring through the air, slamming through the fifth floor window of a nearby building. As the glass shattered and fell, Axel left their line of sight.

_Axel!_ Roxas cried.

Enraged, Jounouchi ran forth to attack the beast, smacking it on the back of its foot. The beast stumbled only momentarily, and swatted the blonde away with its tail. Yami drew another card and winced. "I can't do anything!" He cried. "Sora, cover for me!"

_But what can I do?_ Sora thought. _How am I supposed to beat this thing, let alone cover for Yami?_ As the thought ran through his head, Kuriboh whirred defiantly, flying in circles around Sora for a moment. The keyblade master cast a glance over to the puzzle dangling from Yami's neck, noticing that it was pulsing oddly.

There was no time to cover, however, when the Sphinx turned its eyes on the Pharaoh. An enormous wave of shadows flooded forth from its great maw, smothering the duelist. Sora could clearly see Yami doubling over, gasping for breath and sinking to his knees. A panicked Yugi appeared in spirit form next to the Pharaoh, holding tightly to his partner's shoulders and desperately shouting something, but Sora couldn't make out what he was saying over the roar of the dark inferno. He had to help them…but how?

_**You have power, Sora.**_

Time seemed to stand still as the voice spoke to him. Sora gazed about wildly. _Who's there?_

_**A trusted companion of yours. You may not have met me, but I have met you.**_

_I've met you?_ Sora questioned.

_**Yes. I am here to help you.**_

_How?_

_**In your battle with the Freeshooter, you lost your power to anger. That power descended and twisted you into madness, leaving you only a shadow of your former self.**_

_So that's what happened,_ Sora mused, his shoulders sulking. _But what if I use my power now? I don't want to hurt anyone again!_

_**Your encounter within the Millennium Puzzle has granted you something.**_

_It has…?_

_**Yes. Each Millennium Item has a specific power. The Millennium Puzzle, as Yugi told you, has the greatest power of them all: Unity. With that power, nothing can stop the puzzle's wielder or his companions. You need only believe.**_

By now, Sora was suspicious. _Don't think for one second that you can trick me!_ He shouted. _Last time I used any power, I hurt my friends! I'm not doing that again!_

_**Only because you let your emotions take you over.**_

The stranger did have a point. Sora sighed, and nodded. _Alright. What should I do?_

_**Answer me one question: how far would you go to help your friends?**_

Sora almost laughed, but in this situation, he remained stern. The answer was obvious. _I would sacrifice anything. Even my own self._

_**Then believe, Sora!**_

It happened all at once. A light swarmed his vision, and he felt the familiar warm, strengthening sensation of Drive activating, but how? Was this part of the Power of Unity? Something jerked him off of the ground as it always did, and this time as he felt a new grasp of power within his reach, the hovering sensation did not leave.

As Sora opened his eyes, he only took a moment to glance at his new look. In place of his old clothing was that of a drive form – which wouldn't have been unusual, had it not been for the fact that he had never worn _silver_ before. The keyblade, though he could sense it, was no longer in his hand, but there were _two_ of them on his back, floating just as he was. Even though he wasn't physically holding them, he felt a strange power in him that still allowed the weapons to move under his control.

With renewed resolve, Sora fixed an angered gaze on Theinien. "Hey, mutt! You're going down!"

Theinien did not appreciate the sentiment. Ceasing his attack on Yami, he turned his attention to Sora and sent a similar blast to him. Sora, however, anticipated this. With a single wave of his hand, the keyblades lashed out violently, slicing the darkness itself into bits. His attack diverted, Theinien roared angrily, but was unprepared for Sora's mid-air charge. The keyblade master soared upward, racing for the beast's head. Claws swiped the air, but the keyblades continually lashed out, deflecting the attacks. Once at the beast's head, Sora brandished one of his keyblades, rearing back a hand, and then thrust it forward, impaling the great beast's forehead.

A loud roar of anguish echoed through the area, and Theinien began to stumble, vanishing into wisps of darkness. Sora slowly glided back down to the ground where he stood quietly as the great monster before them vanished, leaving one figure standing just beyond it: a familiar man in a black cloak.

Their battle was far from over.

* * *

...FINAL FORM?! I'm apparently one of the only people on this side that has written it out as far as I know. Also, this fic is nearing its end. Thank you all for sticking with it!


	34. Chaotic Truth Revealed

Special thanks to The Danvers Girls for something in this chapter. I won't tell what because it's semi-spoilerific. This chapter rated T for some language near the end.

Note that this story takes place BEFORE the Millennium World arc, so Yami doesn't know his true name or about the high priests or anything.

Disclaimer: _Yu-Gi-Oh!_ is owned by Kazuki Takahashi. _Kingdom Hearts_ is owned by Tetsuya Nomura and all that.

* * *

**Duel Disks and Keyblades**

**By FlikFreak**

**Chapter Thirty-Four: Chaotic Truth Revealed  
**

* * *

To Yugi, this was entirely too confusing. One moment, he and Yami were engulfed in a terrible inferno of dark flames, the chaos so loud he could hardly speak. The next, they had stopped, and Sora – whom seemed incredibly _different_ for some reason – had distracted the sphinx and taken it down single-handedly. If he could have anything right now, he'd take an explanation about what just happened.

_That'll have to wait,_ Yami noted, noticeably disgruntled. _We've got company._

Indeed, when Yugi looked up he noticed that it wasn't the sphinx's attack that had Yami in a dangerous mood. Standing before them was none other than Zexion, and he didn't look as calm as he had before. "So you have even surpassed Theinien," he muttered, glaring daggers at Sora. "You have even more power than I thought."

Sora narrowed his eyes. "Yugi, go wake up Jounouchi. Hurry!"

Yami nodded, heading over to the unconscious blonde immediately. Yugi spotted Roxas heading in Axel's direction, and Sora resumed his previous look. "I've toyed with you _children_ for long enough," Zexion snarled. "If a sphinx cannot get rid of you, then I'll just have to do it myself!"

_You saw how Sora demolished that thing!_ Roxas protested. _What makes you think you're any better off?_

Apparently, Zexion heard him. The man smirked, and an aura of darkness surrounded him. He lifted his hand into the air, and the darkness converged, transforming into a large book of sorts. A smirk crossed his face. "This will be the end of you!" he cried triumphantly.

"Not if I can help it," Sora replied, a bit too quietly for anyone other than Yugi to hear.

_What do you plan on doing?_ Yugi asked. _We don't know what this guy's got up his sleeves!_

In response, the keyblade master closed his eyes, placing a fist over his heart. An ethereal wind began to blow around him. The boy muttered something under his breath while one of his hands absently reached into his pocket, drawing out a single card. When Yugi looked more closely, he recognized the card as one from Sora's deck. Sora lifted the card into the air, and it began to shine with a brilliant light. Yami and Yugi shielded themselves from the sudden burst of white that flooded out of the card in his hand, which rose into the air to take the form of a great winged beast. The light was still immensely bright, but Yugi could make out the form of a dragon formed of what had to have been diamond, its neck and belly lined with amber. Three horns, one on its nose and two protruding backwards as though they were ears, glittered like the gold they had to have been; and keen, sapphire eyes gazed fiercely at the battlefield. A beautiful and deadly creature such as that could have only been one thing.

_Yugi,_ Yami said breathlessly, _What is that?_

Yugi shook his head. _It's got to be…_

"Let's go, Hyozanryu!" Sora commanded. "Attack with Diamond Rain!"

The sky swarmed with shimmering white clouds. Zexion's gaze shot upward, his eyes wide in terror as a heavy rain of arrowhead-shaped diamonds poured from the sky, penetrating the man's cloak. The light reflected in each individual shard, creating a beautiful spectacle even as the Cloaked Schemer screamed in horror. When the storm vanished, Zexion stood; his cloak tattered and torn, the pages of his book in shreds. "How…" he stuttered. "How could you have…"

"Call out to your deck and it will heed you," Sora echoed as Hyozanryu landed lightly on the ground behind him. "A man once told me that."

"Insolence," Zexion insisted. "I'll finish you here and now!"

**That's enough, Zexion.**

Everyone froze as the voice reached them. It was thoroughly malevolent, and echoed in their skulls. Behind Zexion appeared a man in cream-white robes, the hood pulled back to reveal long, ragged blonde hair. His dark eyes were narrowed in anger as he reached forward and grabbed Zexion's head, lifting him up.

Yugi's eyes widened. _Yami-_

_I know,_ the Pharaoh replied. _It's Anubis!_

"You have served me well," Anubis snarled, "But you have outlived your usefulness!" And with that, he threw the Cloaked Schemer aside, sending him crashing into a telephone pole, where he disappeared. By this time, Jounouchi and Axel were back to their senses, and had re-gathered around their friends.

"What do you want from us?!" Sora demanded, Hyozanryu roaring defiantly in agreement with its master.

Anubis sneered. "You fools," he replied. "I have only used the Nobodies to bolster my army of Heartless."

Sora's eyes promptly widened. "No," He breathed. Yugi knew what Sora was thinking; if Anubis was using the heartless, then the only thing he would be after would be…

"I have no further use of those incompetent imbeciles," Anubis continued, lifting a hand into the air. The group suddenly found themselves surrounded by a horde of dark, humanoid creatures with beady, glowing yellow eyes – creatures Yugi and Yami recognized as the shadows that had devoured Sora's home.

"What now?" Yami cried. "We can't take on this many!"

Hyozanryu swatted a good number of the creatures with a lash of its whip-like tail, but there were only twofold as many monsters to replace them. "We've gatta get out of here!" Sora shouted, still brandishing his keyblade and dispatching any heartless that could come close. "There's got to be a million of these! I can't take this many on at once!"

As though to answer Sora's prayers, a burst of flame shot from the sky and scorched the landscape. Thousands of the heartless that had surrounded them vanished in puffs of black mist. Sora and Yugi jerked their gazes upward to see a strange airplane of sorts hovering over them – a colorful one at that – with a man standing on the deck with what was apparently a flamethrower. The man himself had short-cut blonde hair, a plain white T-shirt, ragged jeans and a cigarette sticking out of his mouth. He looked more like a country hick than anything, but Yugi could tell that this man was intelligent.

Sora could apparently tell that this man was someone he knew. "Cid!" he cried.

"These things never give up, do they," the man replied. "I heard you were in trouble, Sora! Came here as fast as I could!"

"But what about the rules?" Sora asked.

Cid was apparently insulted. "Screw the goddamn rules! You're the keyblade master, you should know when it's time to forget about that!"

Sora wasn't about to argue against that. "I know!" he said, swiping the keyblade at another heartless. "But there's too many of these things! What're we going to do?!"

At that moment there were six separate flashes of golden light. As Yugi looked around, he noticed six ghostly figures – spirits even – surrounding them. It didn't take him long to recognize them: there was a woman wearing a torque, a man with a strangely-shaped scepter, another man with an ankh-shaped key, one with a pair of golden weight scales, one with a ring-shaped pendant and another one with a golden eye.

_Who are these people?!_ Yami cried.

The man with the pendant was the first to call out to them. "Pharaoh! You must leave this place while you still can!"

Yami's eyes widened. "Wha-"

"We'll construct a barrier around this world to slow him down!" The woman shouted, already focusing her efforts on the said plan. "You must leave and find help!"

_But what about our friends?!_ Yugi cried.

_We have to hurry!_ Yami protested. "Sora, we have to leave _now_!"

Sora agreed, recalling Hyozanryu in a flash of white light. "Hey, gramps!"

"I thought I told you not to call me that!" Cid shouted.

"Yugi and I need to get out of here," Sora replied, ignoring Cid's comment, "And _fast_!"

The man nodded and vanished. Moments later, a ladder came tumbling down from the side of the ship. "Jounouchi!" Yami called.

"Don't worry about me!" The blonde replied, grinning in his usual manner in spite of the chaos around him. "Axel and I can handle things here!"

"That's right!" Axel replied. "They don't call me the Flurry of Dancing Flames for nothing!"

"But-"

"We will protect them!" The ankh-wielding man replied vehemently. "Now _hurry_!"

Reluctantly, Yami nodded and climbed aboard, Sora following closely after him. Looking down, Yami noticed that there were shadows following them, and he picked up the pace. The moment both he and Sora were aboard, Cid threw the ladder off the deck, causing the heartless climbing it to fall to their doom. The two were ushered into the cockpit, where they both buckled up tightly. Yami switched places with Yugi now that fighting was no longer needed, and Yugi tightened his seatbelt.

Cid slammed the door behind him and locked it shut. As he started up the ship, Yugi caught a glance of the window: a familiar violet shadow field was appearing. "Hurry!" He cried. "The force field's closing!"

"I'm hurryin'!" Cid replied, somewhat annoyed. Within moments, the engines revved up and the ship sped forward through the force field, making it to the other side just as they would have been trapped. The sky around them became ominously black, and the stars slowly became streaks as Cid hit the gas pedal. Other ships flew past at an inhuman speed. Yugi could hardly believe what he was going through, but he was still more worried about what would happen to his friends.

"Cid, look out!"

The cry jolted everyone from their thoughts. On the radar, Yugi noticed a large red dot speeding right toward them. Cid made for the brakes and pulled back, but it was to no avail. He cringed. "Hang on to your seats!" He shouted. "We're in for an emergency landing!"

In front of them, a large, orange object sped directly for them. Sora, Yugi and Cid winced as it became rapidly closer, and then everything went white.


	35. The Other Promise

The title of this story is an "Easter Egg" for those of you that listen to a lot of Yoko Shimomura's music.

Disclaimer: _Yu-Gi-Oh!_ is owned by Kazuki Takahashi. _Kingdom Hearts_ is owned by Tetsuya Nomura and all that.

* * *

**Duel Disks and Keyblades**

**By FlikFreak**

**Chapter Thirty-Five: The Other Promise**

* * *

Yugi felt incredibly sore and confused. The last thing he had remembered was that Cid person yelling out that they were about to make an emergency landing. As the duelist pulled open his eyelids, the first thing he made to do was check to see if the Millennium Puzzle was still safe.

_I'm here,_ Yami groaned. _Just a bit shaken from the landing._

Nodding, Yugi stood up, brushing himself off. _Where are we?_

The sun in the sky had fallen into a state of dusk, and they had somehow managed to land in some back alley between several buildings. Nearby was a fence closing off a part of the alley, and the door in it was wide open. From his current position, however, Yugi couldn't make out much beyond it.

_We're not in Domino City anymore,_ Yami replied. _Sora should know where we are._

"Looks like you could use some help."

Yugi turned around to see an odd stranger standing behind him. The chubby boy was only a bit taller than he was, wearing a pair of jeans, a red shirt printed with the words "Dog Street" (whatever that meant), a black bandanna which kept up some very unruly black hair, and a pair of sneakers. The stranger seemed like a cheerful enough person to Yugi, but the duelist could feel Yami staring at him in doubt. Yugi nodded. "Yeah," He began slowly. "Do you know someone named Sora?"

The boy nodded. "Yeah. He got here not long ago and said he was looking for you. You a friend of his?"

"Yeah," Yugi replied. "Where is he?"

"Right over there," the boy said, pointing down the alley past the fence. "He's in the usual spot. Follow me."

Yugi did. They ended up in a small room of sorts at the end of the small alley. There were several couches, a dart board, and a few posters (written in an alphabet Yugi didn't understand). There was also a small wooden nightstand in the corner. Sitting on the electric heater was a rather miffed-looking boy with camo-patterned pants, a black shirt and vest, and blonde hair that somehow strongly reminded him of Jounouchi. On the couch was a girl with an orange shirt, yellow pants, and long brown hair. Next to her was none other than…

The raven-haired boy waved. "Sora, I found him!"

Sora smiled wearily. "Thanks, Pence." He turned to the others. "Guys, this is Yugi Mutou. I met him in Domino City."

The girl sitting next to Sora smiled. "Hi, Yugi. My name's Olette."

_I like her,_ Yami noted, grinning. _She seems nice._

The blonde-haired boy sitting on the heater gave him a suspicious look, narrowing his eyes. "Hayner," he said in a half-grumble. "Nice to meet you."

_But I don't like him._

_Be nice, Yami._

"And I'm Pence!" The boy standing next to Yugi said, offering his hand for a handshake. Yugi declined, but Pence was (thankfully) not offended.

"We're in a place called Twilight Town," Sora explained. "I know this is breaking the rules, but there wasn't much of a choice left."

Yugi felt his shoulders droop. "Will everyone be okay?" He muttered.

"They'll be fine," Sora replied. "Axel can take on hoards of Dusks. Shadows shouldn't be a problem. Besides, Jounouchi is a pretty good fighter himself. They're in good hands." Hayner seemed to twitch at the mention of Axel, but no one really paid attention.

While he knew that Sora was trying to cheer him up, Yugi still wasn't sure if he was right. Olette seemed to notice, and stood up from her position and rested a hand on the boy's shoulder. "It'll be fine," she said in a motherly tone of voice. "Sora's gone through this plenty of times before. He knows what he's doing."

"Yeah," Hayner added, "So quit sulking or I'll have to-"

"_Hayner_!"

"What?"

Yugi chuckled at the oddly affectionate display. "I guess you're right," he replied.

"Besides," Hayner continued, "After that whole mess with the other Twilight Town, I'm pretty sure everything will be fine. Organization XIII is gone, after all."

"Mostly," Sora corrected. "In Domino City, there's some sorcerer named Anubis making replicas of members of the Organization."

"Replicas?" Pence asked. "You mean like copies and stuff?"

Sora nodded. "Yeah. We've managed to get rid of them all, but now he's got an army of heartless attacking Domino City. Axel and Jounouchi should be able to hold them off, but in the meantime we need to think up of something to stop them…"

Yugi sighed. "My head hurts," he mumbled. "I know this is what we have to do, but…what if everyone gets hurt?"

There was an odd moment of silence before Sora stood up. "Let me show you something," he said, leading Yugi out of the Usual Spot.

* * *

Cid wasn't in the best of moods, but he still went about his business repairing the Gummi ship. After all, if Sora and that other kid were going to go back and patch things up, they were going to need some transportation.

"_Hey, Cid! You there or not?"_

The engineer rolled his eyes. "Yeah, I'm here Yuffie."

"_It's about time. Squa…Leon and Cloud sent Stiltzkin to check on the situation in Domino City. So far, Anubis has been running all over the place trying to find the keyhole but he hasn't had any luck."_

"Good," Cid replied. "How about the boys there?"

"_You mean that red-head and the blonde? They're holding on their own fine, but they won't last forever."_

"Anything we can do to help?"

"_Stiltzkin said he met a man named Pegasus there. He sends a message: 'At last resort, use the secret card.' We're not sure what it means, but we think he directed it at Sora and Yugi."_

Cid nodded. "I wouldn't doubt that. We all know about Sora, but that Yugi kid…he's something else…"

* * *

_It's amazing up here,_ Yami commented.

Yugi couldn't help but agree. Sora had taken them up to the top of a clock tower, overlooking the entire city. The sunset was amazing, and the ocean beyond the town sparkled underneath it. There was an odd sense of peace that Yugi could feel here, and as Sora sat down, he thought he glimpsed Roxas sitting there as well, a far-away look in his eyes.

"This is Roxas's favorite spot," Sora told them. "But the others like coming here, too."

"It's a great view," Yugi pointed out. "I feel really at peace here."

"I do too," Sora replied. "It's kind of ironic because the keyhole is here, too."

"Keyhole?"

"Yeah." Sora gazed into the sky solemnly. "Every world has a heart, just like people do. Heartless go after that heart. When a person loses their heart, they become a heartless, and the shell they leave behind is their Nobody. A world is different. When that heart is drowned in darkness, it's completely destroyed."

The boy shifted, summoning the keyblade in his hand. "The keyblade isn't just a fancy weapon. It has the power to lock and unlock just about anything, from a lock on a door the keyhole of an entire world. I never got to seal the keyhole of my own home in time, and it ended up being destroyed. That's how this whole mess began…"

"Your world was completely destroyed?"

"Yeah…I managed to restore it though. Two years later, I don't know how, but I woke up here in Twilight Town, and Roxas was with me. I didn't get to meet him right off the bat, though…that happened way later. I'm not sure when I'll be able to go home, but no matter what happens, I have a responsibility to carry out, and I'm not going back until it's done."

Yugi couldn't help but sigh inwardly. Underneath that carefree, cheerful appearance, Sora still had his problems. Not only did he have a strong sense of justice when it came to what was right and wrong, but he even doubted himself at times. What stood out the most was his perseverance; a trait Yugi admired most. Sora knew what was right, and put it above what he wanted.

After a moment, Sora reached into a bag he had brought up to the top of the clocktower, pulling out two blue-and-white popsicles. "Here," he said casually, handing one to Yugi. "I got us some ice cream on the way here."

_How come I didn't notice?_

_You were too busy looking at the rest of the city._

_Oh…_

Yugi warily accepted the popsicle, staring at it for a moment as though it were poisoned. After watching Sora eat it, Yugi carefully nibbled at the corner of it…

…and nearly choked in shock. "Holy-"

Sora laughed. "It's okay! Even I nearly choked on it the first time."

_Sweet mother of Osiris, what kind of flavor is _that_?!_ Yami cried out, having tasted it the moment Yugi took a bite.

Yugi's eyes went incredibly wide. The ice cream tasted sweet as it should have, but at the same time managed to have a salty tang to it. _This is amazing!_ He exclaimed. "What flavor is this, Sora?"

Sora beamed proudly. "It's called Sea-Salt Ice Cream," he explained. "It's one of the top flavors here. Axel doesn't like it much, though…"

"_I_ think it tastes great," Yugi protested. "I'm not sure about Yami though…"

Yami promptly appeared next to Yugi, his arms folded defiantly. _It's just different, that's all, _he grumbled.

"Admit it," Sora teased. "You hate it, don't you?"

_It's fine!_ The spirit insisted.

Yugi grinned mischievously. "You want some, Yami?"

_I-I think I'll pass._

"Oh, come on! You said it tasted fine, didn't you?"

_Yugi, if you think for even one second…_

Sora and Yugi continued to tease Yami, and eventually clock tower rang, alerting them of the time that had passed. Yugi sighed, nibbling on more of his ice cream as he stared out at the eternal sunset. "I'm still not sure," he said, sighing. "After trying so hard to protect Domino City, things still come all the way to this. We had to run and leave everyone behind…"

Roxas appeared next to Sora, and both they and Yami were giving Yugi looks of concern. It wasn't long before the keyblade master spoke. "It's not over," he said, smiling weakly. "It's just not."

"How can you say that?" Yugi asked. "It's practically hopeless."

In response, Sora pulled out a concealed card from his pocket. The clear side of the card sleeve it was in was showed the back of the card instead of the front. "That Pegasus guy gave me this before we ran into Xigbar," he said. "He said only to use it as a last resort. It might be just what we need to get this over with, but before we go that far, I have another idea in mind that I'll show to you when we get there."

Yugi nodded. "I don't know what you've got in mind, Sora…but I trust you."

Sora grinned. "Right. Let's go."


	36. Sentimental Star Journey

I'm sorry for the delay. This chapter is un-beta'd, by the way, so I apologize if the quality is bad. I'll probably get another chapter of Dark Dueling out soon for those of you reading it.

Disclaimer: _Yu-Gi-Oh!_ is owned by Kazuki Takahashi. _Kingdom Hearts_ is owned by Tetsuya Nomura and all that.

* * *

**Duel Disks and Keyblades**

**By FlikFreak**

**Chapter Thirty-Six: Sentimental Star Journey  
**

* * *

Cid slammed the engine door shut on the _Excalibur_, clapping the dust and dirt off of his hands before heading to the sink nearby to wash up. Ever since Sora had crashed the _Kingdom_ into the Deep Jungle, he had taken the liberty of keeping a close eye on the Gummi Ship the keyblade master chose to travel in. Unfortunately, this time Sora wasn't the one that crashed it, so Cid had to vent his steam elsewhere.

"_How's it coming along?"_

"Dandy," Cid grumbled. "Warp gummi's been busted, and it'll take a good while to get one shipped in or built…"

A sigh came from over the phone. _"So I guess those two are going back the old-fashioned way?"_

"There's no other choice," Cid replied. "Besides, Sora's gotten through too many tough spots to count. He'll be fine." He dried off his hands. "I'm ganna go find the boys. They'll have to head back sooner or later."

* * *

Hayner sighed, obviously expecting this. "So you're going back, huh?"

"But you just got here!" Olette protested. "You should stay a while…"

"We can't," Sora replied. "Domino City is under attack as we speak. If we don't set things to rights quick, it'll _disappear_."

"But that's only if that Anubis guy finds the keyhole, right?" Pence said, optimistic as always. "If he doesn't find it, then that world is safe."

"For the most part, yeah, but I don't want to take any chances."

Yugi rubbed his head. _This is complicated…_

_You're telling me,_ Yami replied. _It's hard to imagine that a week ago we didn't know anything about this whole mess, or even about Sora when we first met him._

"Now that I think about it," Pence continued, directing his thoughts to no one in particular, "Hasn't there been a pattern whenever you found a keyhole?"

Sora furrowed his eyebrows and leaned on a wall. "Yeah," he replied, somewhat slowly. "The keyhole at home was in the secret place that we always went to. In Deep Jungle, it was in the cave beyond the waterfalls. For Atlantica, it was in the grotto…everywhere the keyhole seems to be, it's usually either somewhere really important or really peaceful."

Yugi's eyes widened. If what Sora said was true, then he knew just the place it was. "The Museum!" He cried suddenly, causing all four of them to jump. "I always felt at peace there, and it's where Yami first learned about his past!"

"You think so?" Sora replied, ignoring the other three teenagers' confusion about the identity of Yami.

"Of course! It's definitely there!"

"'bout time I found you two."

All eyes turned to the entrance, where Cid stood with his hands on his hips. Hayner didn't look too pleased to see him, but fortunately Cid had come without a cigarette and was instead chewing on a piece of straw, sparing him the blonde's wrath. He rubbed his nose casually. "I've been lookin' all over for ya. The _Excalibur_'s been fixed up. She's ready to take off when you are."

"Then we'll leave now," Sora said before Olette could protest again. "Yugi and I are going to settle things."

Cid blinked. Apparently he hadn't expected such a quick response. "Already? You sure make up your minds quick…"

"Anubis is looking for the keyhole," Yugi explained, "And we think we know where it is. If we can get to it before him…"

"Right," Cid concluded, nodding. "Meet me at the port. You know where it is." With that, he walked off.

* * *

Yugi thought for the slightest moment he had walked into the world's largest (and most extravagant) garage. Not only was the ship they rode in on in here, but there was also a miniature workshop corner filled with freshly oil-stained tools (Cid had probably done some repairs recently), a sink not far from that, and an enormous garage door.

"Welcome to the Gummi Garage," Cid announced. "The Excalibur's ready to board."

Sora smiled. "Thanks, Cid. We couldn't have done it without you."

Cid nodded. "Don't mention it. Oh, by the way, I won't be going with you this time."

The boys did a double take. "What?!"

"You heard me," The engineer responded. "I can't come this time. I'm taking my own ship to Radiant Garden. We've still got some restoration to do there."

"Cid…" Sora began. Yugi could tell that the keyblade master placed some huge trust in this man. As odd as the engineer seemed, it was like the two had known each other all their lives.

"This is _your_ fight," Cid continued. "You and Yugi are the only ones that can take that creep down. Besides, you've got your friends to help you."

_That sounds familiar, doesn't it?_ Yami commented softly. Yugi just smiled.

"By the way, we got a message in from someone in Domino City."

Yugi's ears perked up at the mention of his hometown. "What did it say?"

Cid shrugged. "It said, 'At last resort, use the secret card.' Stiltzkin didn't tell us who exactly sent it, but we knew it was meant for you."

_Pegasus,_ Yami stated simply. _He knows a lot more than meets the eye._

Yugi nodded. _Yeah. That card he gave Sora must be the one he's referring to._

Sora nodded. "Take care, Cid!" He called as he climbed up the ladder into the cockpit, Yugi close behind.

Cid shot the boys a salute. "Good luck."

* * *

Axel groaned. This sort of thing was a lot easier when the Dusks were on his side, but not only had he betrayed them, but now he was going against an army and a half of _Heartless_. Added to the fact that things would not stop, the replica had no clue if he could manage to hold them off much longer, even if he did have Jounouchi's help.

This simply was not his day.

"Think we should call for help?" Jounouchi suggested as he smacked another shadow with his trusty pole.

"Nah," Axel replied. "We can handle them. Sora and Yugi won't be gone for long."

What he didn't tell Jounouchi was that he knew what Anubis was really after. Sure, getting Sora and Yugi out of the way was a step up for him, but what he was really after was the keyhole. Whatever it took, he couldn't let the man near it. There was no telling what Anubis was planning, but with the way things were going so far, he didn't feel like finding out…

* * *

Yugi tightened his seatbelt as tightly as he could. After the previous encounter, he didn't want to risk being thrown around (or out) again. Sora, meanwhile, was in the pilot's seat. Yami quickly informed Yugi that he wasn't entirely sure he could trust Sora to drive a car, let alone pilot a space ship, judging by Sora's normally care-free behavior.

"Begin system check," Sora said firmly, his eyes narrowed.

"_Roger,"_ Cid answered.

"Hey, Sora?"

The keyblade master turned around in his seat. "What is it, Yugi?"

"I was just thinking…" He paused. "That prophecy thing in the museum. I'm not sure about most of it, but some of it I'm definitely sure of."

"Takeoff will be a while," Sora replied. "Let's hear it."

Yugi nodded. "'The eye that sees what's yet to come, its vision shall be fulfilled unless blinded by events predetermined, thus light and shadows both be killed.' The only thing I'm sure about is that the shadow is me and the light must be you."

"But what about the rest?" Sora asked. "Like the eye that sees, and all that."

_He's surprisingly calm about this,_ Yami commented. _He's referenced in a prophecy but he acts like it happens every day._

_Sora's gone through a lot,_ Yugi replied. _I'm sure this isn't really that out of the norm for him._ "I don't know, but I bet we'll know it when we see it." There was another pause before Yugi brought up another question. "By the way…how did you come to know Cid? You two seem like you've known each other for a long time."

Sora just smiled. "After I woke up in Traverse Town, he was the first person I met. He was running a store at the time since he lost his own world to the heartless. He looked after me and gave me the encouragement I needed." He looked away, an odd smile on his face. "Sure, he's pretty odd, but he's one of the most dependable people I know."

"_Ready for takeoff, Sora!"_ Cid announced over the intercom.

The keyblade master nodded, and revved up the engine. Yugi made sure that his seatbelt was tight and the Millennium Puzzle was secure before he fixed his eyes ahead. The ship slowly tilted and pointed upward at the now-open roof as Cid came on the intercom. _"Listen up, Sora. The warp gummi got busted on our way here, so you'll have to get back to Domino the old-fashioned way. There's quite a few enemy ships on the way there, so I upgraded a few of your cannons."_

"Got it," Sora replied. He then shot a quick glance to Yugi. "Get ready. This'll be a bumpy ride." He thrust a lever forward, and the ship took off at a blinding speed, racing through the open rooftop and into the starry sky above.


	37. Battleship Bravery

Looks like this fic will be over 40 chapters after all. Good heavens, why don't I just do this for NaNoWriMo next time?

Disclaimer: _Yu-Gi-Oh!_ is owned by Kazuki Takahashi. _Kingdom Hearts_ is owned by Tetsuya Nomura and all that.

* * *

**Duel Disks and Keyblades**

**By FlikFreak**

**Chapter Thirty-Seven: Battleship Bravery**

* * *

Axel and Jounouchi were surrounded by what the replica called "Neoshadows." They weren't a friendly sort, that was for sure…much tougher than the shadows they had just gotten rid of. Anubis had vanished to leave his newest minions to hopefully finish off the two warriors, and all they had managed to do was survive. Escaping was, so far, not an option.

Jounouchi scowled. The spirits nearby were managing to hold up the shadow shield, but he could tell their energy was waning. Without that shield, more monsters could invade Domino City, and Anubis would be more powerful than ever. At the same time, however, Yugi and Sora wouldn't be able to come back…

There was little time left. He could only hope they were alright.

* * *

Yugi thought he was going to be sick. Speeding forward was enough to make him airsick – he never exactly had an easy time on the airplanes he took to the different tournaments he attended and whatnot – but when Sora mentioned a bumpy ride, he couldn't help but sink from the anticipation. Fortunately, he got over the nausea that accompanied lift off and accept the offered Copilot seat Sora had. After all, this might not be a game, but the way the ship operated it could have just as well been one.

_Show me what you've got,_ Yami commented.

_Prepare to be amazed,_ Yugi replied. _I've never lost a single game in my life. Considering what's on the line now, I'm not about to stop my winning streak just because I'm not good with turbulence._

"We'll be making a new route," Sora grumbled. "I hate doing this."

"Route?" Yugi asked.

The keyblade master nodded. "The one I took to get here from Radiant Garden is on the other side of Domino City. There's a long way around routes and it's a lot safer, but we don't have time for that."

_So routes are more dangerous, but they're a lot faster?_ Yami asked.

"Precisely," Sora responded, staring straight ahead. "We'll be fighting our way through, but it'll be the ship getting damaged and not us."

The sky around the ship turned white, a dark mist swirling within it. While Yugi was staring in awe at the somehow sinister beauty around them, Sora's gaze was fixed ahead as a bright white keyhole shape approached them and passed, revealing a pitch-black sky dotted with small gray specks. At first Yugi thought they were stars until they began rapidly approaching. "Enemy ships!?" He cried in shock.

"And the weak variety too," Sora replied. Only then did Yugi notice that the ships in question were very small. Lasers shot out of the canons on the wings of the ship, demolishing the opposition on contact. Sora pulled another lever and the ship sped forward. "Keep an eye out for asteroids, Yugi. You've got control of some of the more powerful cannons, but that's about it. Save your ammo for obstacles if you see any, but use the lesser shots on enemies that I miss if you can."

Yugi nodded, gripping the controls in front of him. Immediately his focus was set, and he prepared for the worst. Several more ships swarmed in, and Sora dispatched some, while Yugi aimed and shot down a few more. The larger cannons remained unused, but the duelist had his finger ready on the trigger should they be needed.

Sora grimaced when he glanced at the radar nearby. "The exit of the route isn't far but there's a swarm of enemy ships headed our way."

"Can we handle that many?" Yugi asked.

"I doubt it," Sora replied, his expression indiscernible. "I have an idea, but I'm not sure if it'll work. Not even all of the ammo we've got will be able to take down that many."

Roxas, whom had appeared standing behind Sora, pointed forward. _We need a plan, and fast! They're already here!_

Yugi's game instincts kicked in. "Fight whatever's in the way and leave the rest!" he cried, already shooting down a few of the enemies. Sora, though surprised, nodded and followed suit, shooting whatever was in the way and speeding forward.

_Missiles incoming at three o'clock!_ Yami shouted. Yugi gave a quick glance in that direction, and indeed there were missiles headed their way.

Sora was way ahead of him. "Hold on!" he shouted, swerving the controls to the left and downward. The world seemed to spin around them, but they rolled out of the way just in time and the beams instead slammed into an enemy ship. Yugi shook himself out of dizziness and refocused his efforts. Sora, meanwhile, had had enough of the assault. "We can't afford to lose any more of our ammo," he mumbled. "We're almost half-way there, but we don't know what else will come up!"

Yugi couldn't help but agree. The enemy ships were never-ending…how would he be able to hold them all off?! They couldn't use up all of their ammo now unless they were ready to have a rough time ahead. They needed to get out of here…and _fast_!

As though his prayers had been answered, a barrage of lasers eliminated the rest of the crowd.

Yami blinked. _Was that part of the plan?_

Sora shook his head. "Those cannons weren't ours," he said breathlessly.

Yugi, meanwhile, was double- and triple-checking the ammo count. It hadn't changed from when they stopped the assault. This might have been a good thing to happen to them, but it was still suspicious. Before he could ponder it further, a small beeping interrupted his thoughts. "What's going on?"

"There's a transmission," Sora replied, typing frantically at the control panel. "But it's pretty weak…"

_A transmission from who?_ Roxas asked.

Sora shook his head. "I don't recognize the signal. Chip and Dale can't pilot ships large enough to make it here on their own, and Cid said he was staying behind. There's no video footage coming in, just a bit of static. It's probably from an older ship model."

_Any sound?_

"Plenty. Let me bring it up."

Yugi felt as though Sora and Roxas were speaking another language, but he was able to discern that they were getting a message. Though there was no image on the transmission screen, Sora seemed content with the sound coming over the intercom. After a small bout of static, the transmission cleared up.

"Hey there, Sora! Good to hear from you again."

Sora's eyes widened. "Your Majesty!?" He cried.

_Royalty?_ Yami thought privately to Yugi. _Sora sure does get around._

_Got that right…_ Yugi replied. At this point, things like this shouldn't have bothered him – after all, he was the incarnation of the Pharaoh – but it still came as a considerable shock. "Who is this?" he asked quietly.

Roxas answered for Sora. _It's the King,_ he said in a hushed voice. _He's saved our hides more times than we can count._

_Sure sounds casual for a king,_ Yami replied.

Yugi smirked. _Speak for yourself,__** Pharaoh.**_

"Sorry for the short notice," the king continued. "Cid told me what was going on and I followed you as quickly as I could. I'm personally not headed to Domino City, but I knew there was something fishy going on when a barrier suddenly showed up around it. All the heartless and nobody ships headed there were unable to enter, and they all crowded around it."

"That explains the crowd," Sora grumbled. "Where are you, your Majesty?"

"I'm using a cloaking device," the reply came. "I'm to your left. By the way, which ship are you flying right now?"

"The Excalibur," Sora replied. "Why do you ask?"

"It should be flying faster if you only have two people on board."

Sora and Yugi froze in terror. _Only two people?_ Yami echoed.

"You think we have a stowaway?" Yugi asked no one in particular.

"Should we go check it out?" Sora suggested.

"You should be fine," the king said quickly, as though trying to keep them from searching the cabins. "If they wanted to sabotage your ship, they would have done it by now."

_I'm not particularly fond of intergalactic hitch-hikers,_ Roxas groaned, _But if the king says it's fine, then it's fine._

Yami narrowed his eyes and spoke privately to Yugi. _Something's fishy here. They may trust their king on this situation, but I bet he's the one behind it._

_But he's saved them many times,_ Yugi replied. _And besides, he has a point. If they wanted to screw us over, they've had a good amount of time to do so already._

"The exit is up ahead!" The king announced. "Take care, Sora!"

"Where are you going?" Sora asked, eyes wide. Yugi could tell he wasn't rather fond of the king running off on him like this

"I've done my job here. Besides, there's a bit of a mess in a world near here that I need to tend to. I'll fill you in on the details later."

Sora sighed. "Take care!" he cried as the transmission ended. Once it did, he growled in frustration. "Great! Another world is in danger of biting the dust, the King leaves me in the dark again, _and_ we have a stowaway?"

_We've got bigger problems,_ Roxas pointed out.

All four of them re-focused their gaze ahead. They had exited the route, and before them was none other than Domino City. What's more, the shadow barrier was gone, and a dark mist was rising from the surface.

* * *

This chapter was very hard to write, but I hope it was good. FINAL BOSS BATTLE, HOOOOOOOOO!


	38. Less Than Nobody

Before we continue, I'd like to say a few things.

I know there's a lot more of you out there reading this than are reviewing, but I don't mind entirely too much. I just want to say thank you for reading, putting up with all this craziness, and for encouraging me to continue. Without you guys, this fic wouldn't be.

I'd also like to give some major thanks to The Danvers Girls, who was kind enough to beta my story and give me a few ideas as I went along. When this story is complete, she will also be my beta for Dark Dueling, another Yuugiou-centric fic (Shameless plug, I know! XD).

We are drawing close to the end of this long, long story, but there is still a good bit left to go. I constantly worry about the quality of this fic – whether it's written well enough, if you people will like it, and other things – but I'm thankful you guys like what's there.

To be honest, I had no clue where this thing was going when I started, but I implemented a villain and a basis, and it sort of evolved on its own. _Duel Disks and Keyblades_ began as a plot bunny and developed into what we have now. I had other ideas on a KH/YGO crossover, but this was the one I decided on, and now I'm glad I chose it.

Once again, thank you everyone for reading this, and stick around for the rest of the show. We may be in the final Act, but we're still far from finished!

Disclaimer: _Yu-Gi-Oh!_ is owned by Kazuki Takahashi. _Kingdom Hearts_ is owned by Tetsuya Nomura and all that.

* * *

**Duel Disks and Keyblades**

**By FlikFreak**

**Chapter Thirty-Eight: Less Than Nobody**

* * *

Anzu was beyond scared. Beyond terrified, even. Yugi and Sora had vanished, and now there were monsters rampaging throughout the entire city. Nowhere seemed to be safe. She, Mokuba, Ishizu and Marik were hiding in the Museum. The dark creatures seemed to be avoiding that place and that place alone, and it was the only area that they could rest. Kaiba had stayed behind at his workplace, and couldn't contact them due to the phone lines being disconnected. Even worse was the fact that Anubis was on a rampage, and Jounouchi and Axel were right in the middle of it. It didn't help that the shadow barrier was gone…

"Now what?" Mokuba asked, shivering in fright. "Big Brother won't be able to make it over here with how dangerous the streets are!"

"And there's no telling how Rishid is faring in the hotel," Ishizu added.

"They'll be fine," Marik insisted, clicking the hidden switch in the Millennium Rod and slightly exposing the dagger inside it to show his point. "And if any of those monsters decide to come in here, I'll make sure they don't bother us."

"We've barricaded all of the doors," Ishizu replied. "It'll take them a while to find the store room."

At that, Anzu took another glance around the group. They had all crowded into the corner of the museum storage room (which, in spite of its small size, still managed to hold a good multitude of things as well as have enough room for the four of them). She was sitting farthest in the corner, and would have been hugging her knees had there been enough room. Next to her, Ishizu was calmly sitting Asian-style, both hands placed on Mokuba's shoulders. The said boy was practically curled up into a ball next to the Egyptian woman, and shivering in fear. Meanwhile, Marik sat near Mokuba, his Millennium Rod clutched tightly in his hands. All in all, it wasn't the safest place to be hiding, but considering the alternative they believed the storage room to be on par with a bomb shelter.

"The shadow barrier fell ages ago," Marik observed. "Anubis will be able to use a lot more power than before with it gone, but at least now Sora and Yugi will be able to come back."

"A blessing and a curse," Ishizu spat. "This isn't the first time I've admonished my helplessness."

It was at that moment that Anzu felt something click in the back of her mind. Something simply felt…odd. Like she knew something. She focused on that thought out of pure curiosity, and a realization came to her. She was about to voice it when something slammed into the door. Anzu would have cried out if Marik hadn't thrown an arm out to the side, ordering them to stay down. He unsheathed the dagger he held and crept forward just as a few muffled, yet slightly familiar voices came through.

"I don't think it's here."

"But I was positive!"

Anzu stiffened. Whoever was here was searching for what Anubis wanted. Had he hired new lackeys?!

"Well, we haven't checked everywhere. Nothing's really resonated in the main areas. Maybe it's in the storage room?"

"Can't hurt to look, I guess. Maybe we should try the game shop after this."

"Are you kidding? The streets are a mess!"

"Let's just hurry." The door began to creak open. Marik readied his dagger and lunged forward at the intruders…

…only to have his strike be parried by a large key-shaped sword that appeared in a shower of bright sparks. "Geez, Marik! It's only us!"

Marik backed away, sheathing his dagger and rubbing his head sheepishly. "Sorry about that…I thought you were one of those _things_…"

Anzu smiled widely. "Yugi! Sora!"

Nearby, Yugi gave a sigh of relief and disengaged his duel disk. "Thank goodness you're all okay…"

"Where's Kaiba?" Sora asked.

"He's still at the KaibaCorp tower," Mokuba responded. "Do you know if he's okay?"

"There weren't any heartless near there," Yugi said calmly. "He should be fine. Besides, he's got plenty of security."

"What are you two doing here?" Ishizu asked. "You left right when the shadow barrier went up!"

"We had to do a bit of recon," Sora explained. "But we came back as soon as we could. We're looking for something, and we have to find it before Anubis does."

"Anubis probably found whatever it is you're looking for by now," Marik groaned. "Jounouchi and Axel are still in the park fending off those shadows. They've held off for a while but I don't think they'll last."

"We should go help them out," Yugi said. "I don't want anyone else getting hurt!"

Sora nodded. "Right. Give me a sec." He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small charm, holding it tightly in his fist and closing his eyes. There was a small flash of light, and Sora muttered a quiet chant under his breath.

He was rudely interrupted by a flash of dark blue soaring from behind a nearby pile of junk in the store room. The said blur tackled him, causing him to slam into the wall and slide down in a somewhat comical fashion. When the chaos calmed down (Marik was ready to pull the dagger again but was instead stunned by the sight before him), Sora was visible being slobbered on by a strange, four-legged blue creature with huge eyes, a big black nose and a mouth spanning nearly its entire face, the jaws in question full of razor-sharp teeth. Each paw was armed with a formidable set of small, dark blue claws, and the creature's rabbit-like ears were simply enormous (though there was a wedge-shaped chip taken out of one). The creature would have looked entirely menacing had it not been for the fact that it was fond of Sora, and somehow took on a simply cute appearance.

"What _is_ that?" Ishizu asked, apparently wary of the strange feral animal that Sora had called upon.

Sora chuckled. "This is Stitch," he said. "Bulletproof, fireproof, shockproof, can see through the dark, and thinks faster than a super computer. He can also move objects three thousand times his size."

"Anything else?" Mokuba asked, obviously fascinated.

"He used to go around backing up sewers, reversing street signs, and stealing everyone's left shoe," Sora noted, "But he's gotten over that." At this comment, Stitch's ears flopped and he pouted. Sora ruffled the creature's fur and set him down on the floor – with much difficulty, given Stitch's weight – and knelt down to his eye level. "Stitch, I know this isn't exactly your line of work, but it's extremely important."

The little blue beast nodded obediently. It spoke, but instead of words there was a small stream of gibberish. Nonetheless, Sora seemed to understand the gist of what Stitch meant, as he nodded and continued. "There are heartless all over the place. Remember what happened back home at Radiant Garden?" Stitch nodded, and Sora nodded back. "That's pretty much what's going on here. I need you to stay here and protect these people while I get rid of the root of the problem, okay?"

Stitch nodded eagerly, pulling a pair of toy-esque guns from practically nowhere (earning him a highly suspicious glance from Marik and Ishizu, but only a blank stare from Anzu) and taking a battle pose. Sora grinned. "Atta boy," he said, standing up. "Be good, and don't break anything if you can help it." The keyblade master turned to Yugi. "Let's go. If we don't find it before Anubis does, who knows what'll happen."

Yugi nodded, casting a quick glance to Anzu. "We'll be right back," he said before the two hurried off, leaving the group to draw a blank as Stitch stood protectively at the door.

* * *

Sora sliced through the heartless with his keyblade while Yami (he had swapped places with Yugi in mid-run without stumbling, which was quite an accomplishment) had summoned Dark Magician to blast through the opposition. It wasn't long before they reached Jounouchi and Axel, whom were about worn out. At the sight of Dark Magician, Jounouchi's spirits got a well-needed perking up. "Yugi! You're back!"

"I came as fast as I could," he replied. "But it wasn't easy."

"Could have fooled me," Axel replied as he swatted away another Neoshadow. "We can't keep going much longer. There's just too many of these creeps…"

"If we find the keyhole that shouldn't be a problem," Sora replied. "Once we seal it up, the heartless should stop coming."

"Tell me, boy…where might I find this _keyhole_?"

The voice echoed all around them, coming from everywhere and nowhere at once. They spun around, finding a familiar man standing behind them.

His complexion was dark, and blonde hair fell over his face. A single aquamarine sphere rest on his forehead, and a black cloak – lined with spikes around the collar – rest on his shoulders. Cream-white baggy pants covered his legs, and a set of dark crimson armbands. Around his neck hung a pyramid-shaped pendant, adorned with a Wdjat eye in the center, which was composed of gold lining and an ominous crimson gem. The man was considerably strong, though he might have specialized in magic rather than strength. Yami was the first to recognize him.

"Anubis!" he growled. "What do you want with this world?"

The sorcerer cackled. "It matters not for you to know," he replied vaguely. "For once I destroy you, nothing will stand in my way."

"I'd like to see you try!" Sora taunted, readying the keyblade.

Yugi, however, wasn't entirely sure. Something about the pendant made him feel incredibly wary. Something bad was about to happen, he could just feel it. There was no good intent in this man…

Anubis snarled. "Very well, mortal. Prepare to witness my power firsthand!" A beam shot from the man's pendant into the air. The light gathered into an azure sphere that grew brighter for a few seconds before more rays shot down to the ground, screeching across it like fingernails on a chalkboard. The rays multiplied, forming a pyramid shape, encasing all five of them. The heartless fled, but a more powerful opponent had appeared to take care of the keyblade master and Pharaoh.

The moment the pyramid was complete, Yugi choked on his own breath, clutching his chest in agony and sinking to his knees. The pain was amazing; it wasn't possible to feel this in spirit form! He would know if the Pharaoh was hurt, but he wouldn't feel it…but in this case, Yami _wasn't_ hurt. How…

He spared a small glance at Sora, whom was shuddering from a similar pain. A flash of blinding, light-blue light consumed his vision as he and Sora felt themselves being dragged violently into an unknown void.

Yami's eyes snapped wide open as something jerked within. He called out mentally to Yugi, but there was no response. He reached out for his partner's presence, but once more there was nothing. Startled, Yami gazed wildly about to see Anubis smirking back at him. Axel remained untainted, standing wearily from shock rather than whatever Yugi had gone through. A loud metallic clang caught his ear and Yami whipped around just in time to see a rusty pipe clattering to the ground nearby a knocked-out Jounouchi. Frantic, Yami turned to Sora but instead saw a boy with blonde hair and white clothes: Roxas.

The Pharaoh was about to wonder if Roxas had taken Sora's place when the Nobody gave a weary and horrified glance at Yami. The Pharaoh shuddered. "Roxas," he began. "What happened to Sora?"

"I don't know," Roxas replied, his voice trembling. "He just…he's gone."


	39. The Pyramid of Light

I apologize if this chapter is short! This one was fun to write.

Disclaimer: _Yu-Gi-Oh!_ is owned by Kazuki Takahashi. _Kingdom Hearts_ is owned by Tetsuya Nomura and all that.

* * *

**Duel Disks and Keyblades**

**By FlikFreak**

**Chapter Thirty-Nine: The Pyramid of Light**

* * *

Stitch growled furiously. He knew this person, but he did not like this person very much. Stitch thought this person was very suspicious. This person was dressed in a black cloak, so he was probably one of those bad guys that hurt Sora. Stitch would very much have liked to blast this person with his plasma cannons, but Sora would not like that at all.

Not every ally is a friend.

The stranger wore a black cloak, much like the organization, and was staring at them calmly. He held no weapon in his hand – he probably thought he didn't need one, a foolish mistake around a firearm-wielding Stitch – and instead regarded the strangers cowering in the storage room with strict courtesy. Stitch honestly didn't care how nice anyone could be – if he didn't like them, he wouldn't be nice to them, and he wouldn't hesitate to get rid of them if they got in the way.

"Who are you?" Ishizu asked sternly, pulling Mokuba closer.

"I'm with the Hollow Bastion Restoration Committee," the man replied, not lifting his hood, and keeping his gaze on Stitch. The alien knew that this man meant no harm, and lowered one of his guns, keeping one ready should a heartless appear. The man nodded and continued. "I'm looking for Sora. Have you seen him?"

"He headed for the park," Marik said, keeping his dagger ready. "I take it you know him?"

"We're good friends," The man replied.

"Then how come you're dressed up like the Organization?" Anzu protested angrily.

The stranger chuckled and responded quietly. "It's the best disguise I could find," he said. "And I take it you know about Organization XIII?"

"You bet we do," Mokuba replied fiercely, though most of the intimidation in his protest was lost due to his position cowering next to Ishizu. "One of them hacked into my big brother's computer."

"I see," the stranger replied. "Well, I need to head out and warn Sora. Keep up the good work, Stitch." With that, he patted the said creature on the head.

Stitch purred delightfully. Perhaps this guy wasn't so bad after all. Sure, he had done a few bad things in the past, but he wasn't a bad person…

Just as the man turned to leave, he tossed another glance back. "By the way," he began, facing Marik specifically, "If you can contact Shadi, do so immediately and tell him the Interloper sent you."

Marik blinked in disbelief. "Wha…how do you know about Shadi?!"

"He's the reason Sora knew to come here," the stranger replied before running off, leaving the entire group – especially Stitch – with even more questions than answers.

* * *

Sora dragged his eyelids open to find himself lying on a stone floor. It took him a while to recognize his surroundings, but once he had completely come to, he realized that he was once more in the mysterious labyrinth – the very same one that he had fallen into when he had visited the museum with Yugi before facing off with Marluxia. This time, however, that strange brown fluff-ball that Yugi called "Kuriboh" wasn't anywhere to be seen.

The keyblade master gazed about wearily to find Yugi nearby, completely unconscious. Jounouchi was sprawled out in a rather comical fashion on the ground, but his eyes were tightly shut. Taking a deep breath of somewhat stale air, Sora walked over to Yugi and shook him gently awake. "Yugi," he called, his voice echoing about the labyrinth. "Yugi, wake up."

Yugi grunted defiantly but woke up anyway. When he did, a strange sense of realization came into the boy's eyes. Sora half-expected Yugi to ask where they were, but the phrase the duelist gave was completely different from what he expected. "What're we doing here?" he said, somewhat wary.

Sora blinked. "You know where we are?"

"Yeah," Yugi replied, nodding. "This is where the Pharaoh's spirit lives. We're inside the Millennium Puzzle."

_That_ caught Sora's attention. He shivered unconsciously and looked about as though the walls would attack him. "So…we're spirits now?"

Yugi shook his head. "Not quite…" There was a momentary pause as Yugi worded it out. "Everyone has what they call a soul room. For each different person, it's different. Generally, it reflects on what kind of person you are. This is the Pharaoh's soul room, and since it's linked to the Millennium Puzzle, that's pretty much where it is."

"How do you know that this is where we are?" Sora asked.

The duelist grinned oddly in reply. "I've been here before," he replied. "Normally I don't come unless I really have to, but there's a kind of strange sense of calm in here that I don't really get anywhere else."

"Even now?" Sora asked, smiling.

But to his surprise, Yugi was anything but at comfort. "Not now," he replied, shivering. "Something's wrong. I know this is Yami's soul room, but something just isn't right…"

"Hey, would anyone like to tell me what's going on here?"

Sora and Yugi turned sheepishly to Jounouchi, whom had woken up and was rubbing his head. "We're in the Millennium Puzzle," Yugi replied.

Jounouchi pushed himself to his feet. "Great," he mumbled, obviously not too pleased. "One second I'm ready to smash that sorcerer silly, next I'm a lab rat in a giant maze…"

"We need to get out of here," Sora said sternly, rubbing his arms in attempt to rid himself of the growing aura of foreboding. "I don't like this. Besides, we're already got Anubis to deal with."

It was at that moment that a familiar cry of "Kuri!" reached their ears. Behind a corner flew none other than the brown ball of fluff known as Kuriboh, bobbing up and down frantically. The instant it reached the group it made straight for Sora calling out continuously. Jounouchi was the first to speak. "Hey, it's Kuriboh!"

"Kuriboh?" Yugi said. "What're you doing here?"

Sora smiled. This was just the opportunity he needed. "Kuriboh, do you think you can lead me out again?"

Kuriboh replied by bobbing around, apparently in denial. Yugi, however, was more familiar with the little fiend and tilted his head. "I think he wants to show us something. It seems like it's important."

"We don't have time," Sora replied. "Anubis is still out there, and who knows what he's doing right now!"

"I'm with Sora on this one," Jounouchi said. "We don't have any time to lose. We have to get back out there."

"But that light was what forced us in here," Yugi pointed out. "Maybe if we got rid of it we could get out."

Sora nodded. "Sounds like a plan." He turned to Kuriboh. "Do you know anything about that light or how to get rid of it?"

Kuriboh bobbed happily in reply and bounced off. The three boys raced after the brown ball of fur, but they didn't get far when it halted in its tracks and backed away. When they looked closer, they could see why.

There were about twenty Neoshadows waiting for them.

* * *

That's not the last we'll be seeing of Stitch, btw. n.n


	40. A Familiar Ally

Disclaimer: _Yu-Gi-Oh!_ is owned by Kazuki Takahashi. _Kingdom Hearts_ is owned by Tetsuya Nomura and all that.

* * *

**Duel Disks and Keyblades**

**By FlikFreak**

**Chapter Forty: A Familiar Ally**

* * *

The cloaked stranger approached the park, slicing another heartless out of the way before him. It was midnight now, and the skies were pitch-black. The only thing he could see clearly was an enormous, light-blue pyramid that seemed to glow with its own radiance. It didn't take long to notice, however, that the radiance was tainted.

On the side closest to the stranger was an enormous swirling red eye. _That must be the entrance to wherever Sora and Yugi went,_ he thought. Looking through it, he saw a familiar face running around inside of a stone labyrinth. Nodding, he fixed his gaze on the crimson vortex as an ethereal wind swept around him, jerking him up from the ground and pulling him in.

He left no trace of his presence behind.

* * *

Yami felt like someone had strung a five ton weight to his back. Something about this Pyramid of Light was sapping his strength, and had taken their souls. Yugi had his place, but that didn't make him feel any better. Sora was also taken, but Roxas had appeared in his place to wield the keyblade. Jounouchi remained lifeless on the ground, his soul also imprisoned. Axel, however, was mostly unaffected other than still experiencing exhaustion.

"I have waited three thousand years for this moment," Anubis announced, grinning, "And now, revenge will finally be mine!"

"You do something to piss this guy off, Yami?" Roxas asked in undertone.

Yami shook his head. "Not that I remember…" _My memories as Pharaoh…they are hidden from me. If I had met this man during that time, that would be the reason I do not know of him…_

There was hardly time to think. The same murky fluid that had appeared when Theinien was summoned formed around the ground near Anubis's feet. From it rose an elegant lance, thick and long, the point gleaming in the light of the pyramid. Yami could tell without looking that the weapon was sharper than a typical polearm. After all, it had been made especially for the demise of a certain Pharaoh.

And if Anubis was out for revenge, he wouldn't be taking any shortcuts.

A bolt of bright white lightning was sent their way, and the group barely managed to dodge it just before it would have slammed into them. Yami grimaced. "Axel! Get Jounouchi somewhere safe! If he manages to wake up, I don't want him in pain!"

The replica nodded. "I'm on it!" With that, he headed for the blonde's body and began dragging him to a corner.

Meanwhile, Roxas had readied an attack. A few fireballs flew from the tip of the keyblade, but Anubis deftly managed to deflect them off of the white lance and back at the keyblade master. The flames sent Roxas flying back into the wall of the pyramid, which crackled with waves of blue energy, causing the nobody to scream in agony.

Yami nodded to Dark Magician, whom sent a wave of Dark Magic to the sorcerer. It failed to hit, and instead vanished into thin air. Yami narrowed his eyes. _How are we supposed to defeat him, let alone lay a finger on him?_

Anubis cackled. "It's no use, Pharaoh. With the Pyramid of Light at my command, you will never have enough power to stop me."

Of course. The Pyramid of Light was his source of power. The problem was, whatever this barrier was that had been erected around them was responsible for this man's sudden invincibility. If they could destroy it somehow, they would be able to defeat Anubis and end this chaos, but how could they destroy something they couldn't even touch?

Roxas staggered to his feet, wheezing for breath. "Where's Sora?" He asked no one in particular. "Why is he gone again?"

Yami sent an angered gaze at Anubis. "What do you want with us?" He growled.

The sorcerer cackled. "You should know better than anyone, Pharaoh," he replied. "I am the Lord of the Dead. The seat as Pharaoh of this realm should be rightfully mine, but you and that accursed keyblade stand in my way."

"What does the keyblade have to do with this?" Axel demanded, helping Roxas back to his feet.

"Didn't the almighty keyblade master tell you?" Anubis growled. "Within the keyhole of a world lies the heart of that world. If one can control the power within, they can manipulate it to whatever they wish it to be. But if the keyhole is sealed before then, I'll never be able to claim it as my own!"

"And neither will anyone else," Axel retorted. "That kind of stuff is better left untouched."

"You don't even know where it is," Roxas grumbled. "And as far as you know, the Heartless could be using you to get to it so they can destroy this world altogether."

Anubis did not like that comment. With a thrust of his palm, he sent another flash of lightning at Roxas, missing the boy by inches. The Nobody deftly evaded the attack, racing forward to strike the sorcerer, but his strike was met with the stark-white lance that parried his strike and sent him flying back. Roxas landed, skidding to a stop before he stood, readying another attack.

_This is futile,_ Yami realized suddenly. _Anubis is practically invincible… We have to destroy this pyramid before it destroys us!_

* * *

Getting rid of a crowd of Neoshadows wasn't easy. What especially peeved Sora off was the fact that, like their shadow counterparts, they were more than capable of sinking to the ground into a two-dimensional form. With a bit of help from Yugi and Jounouchi (whom was quite the martial artist), he managed to dispatch them quickly enough to catch a breather.

"Up there!" Yugi cried. Following his gaze, Sora found an eerie red eye gazing down at them. The shape was very similar to the Wdjat eye on the Millennium Puzzle, only the iris was a blood-tinted crimson. When Sora looked closely, he could make out a few familiar figures.

Yami. Roxas. Axel. And a lifeless Jounouchi lying on the ground nearby…

"That's probably what's going on outside," Jounouchi observed. "We need to make it out there before and get rid of Anubis anything bad happens."

"Or maybe just that shield," Sora noted. "When Anubis put that up, we all got trapped in here. If we get rid of it, we might be able to get back out…"

As they watched through the eye, a wave of white rushed toward Roxas, throwing him back and pinning him against the edge of the force field, where he became overwhelmed with a strong shock. At the same time, Sora doubled over as agony wracked over his entire body, causing him to sink to his knees. Yugi was quick to notice. "Sora!"

"It's weird," he muttered. "When Roxas was attacked, I felt it too…"

Jounouchi narrowed his eyes. "Then we need to finish this up while we still can!"

On cue, a wave of Neoshadows appeared behind them. Yugi readied his duel disk and Jounouchi took a protective stance. Sora found himself practically unable to move, and couldn't even call out the keyblade. He watched in terror as the heartless lunged…

…and then vanished into thin air.

Behind them was a man cloaked in black – no doubt part of the organization. But who? Vexen, perhaps. Maybe Saïx or Lexaeus. It couldn't possibly be Xemnas. When Sora did a double-take, however, he noticed that the stance didn't match any of them.

"I can't believe you, Sora."

So this person knew his name. How convenient, they could skip the introductions. Casting the bitter thought aside, Sora focused his attention on the weaponless man. "What do you want?" he grumbled.

The man continued. "After all this time, I was looking everywhere for you, only to find you wandering around _again_. Not only that, but you've also managed to get yourself into yet another mess."

Sora froze. This person…he sounded…_familiar._

As though reading his thoughts, the cloaked figure lifted his hood, revealing lengthy silver hair and turquoise eyes. He was also grinning smugly. "You're supposed to be taking care of Kairi."

The keyblade master's eyes widened as a mixture of relief, confusion and happiness flooded his mind. He'd recognize that face anywhere. "Riku?!"

* * *

This chapter was not beta'd. Sure hope it's okay anyway.


	41. Twist of Fate

Disclaimer: _Yu-Gi-Oh!_ is owned by Kazuki Takahashi. _Kingdom Hearts_ is owned by Tetsuya Nomura and all that.

* * *

**Duel Disks and Keyblades**

**By FlikFreak**

**Chapter Forty-One: Twist of Fate**

* * *

Yugi could hardly believe what he was seeing. Roxas had mentioned this Riku person as the one that had destroyed Sora's home, though not on purpose. Then again, Sora had been looking all over for his friends, so finally finding Riku – especially in a place like this – must have come as a huge relief to him. It definitely showed, too.

Riku had been tackled clean to the ground.

"Riku! I haven't seen you in ages! Where've you been? How're the others at Radiant Garden? How'd you know where I was? How'd you get here? What-"

"I can't breathe, Sora!"

Blushing, Sora pushed himself off of his silver-haired friend and helped him to his feet. Yugi couldn't help but smile; Jounouchi had practically done the same to him when he finished his match with Pegasus in the Duelist Kingdom tournament. After Riku had enough oxygen, he stood and looked over the odd group. "These your new friends?" He asked suspiciously.

Sora grinned cheerfully. "I met them when I came here."

Jounouchi gave a sweeping bow. "The name's Jounouchi," he said.

Yugi waved sheepishly. "I'm Yugi, and this is Kuriboh." The furball bobbed up and down accordingly.

"Nice to meet you all," Riku replied, nodding politely. "I'm pretty sure I don't have to tell you that I'm Riku." His greeting finished, he turned his gaze to the crimson eye above them. "Any idea what's going on?" he asked.

"A sorcerer named Anubis is after the keyhole," Sora quickly explained. "We were going to find it before him, but he ended up trapping us here."

"Our friends are holding him off on the outside," Yugi added. "If we're going to get out of here, we need to find a way to get rid of that blue pyramid."

"That sounds like fun," Riku replied, apparently familiar with such a fix. "Any idea how we're going to go about doing that?"

"Maybe," Yugi replied. All eyes turned on him and he examined the ground thoughtfully. "Yami said something about a prophecy at the museum not long ago. It's got something to do with this, I know it…"

Sora nodded. "The eye that sees what's yet to come, its vision shall be fulfilled; unless blinded by events predetermined, thus light and shadows both be killed."

Yugi nodded. "We already know what Light and Shadows refer to, but we don't know about the rest."

"I think your little friend does," Riku pointed out. Sure enough, Kuriboh was bobbing up and down frantically, whimpering in a desperate attempt to get their attention.

Jounouchi sighed, turning to Kuriboh. "Well, Fluffy? Got any ideas?"

Kuriboh nodded and took off down the corridor. The group rushed after him at top speed into the endless labyrinth.

* * *

Yami clenched his fists tightly. Roxas was on his knees, supporting himself with one arm and grasping his ribs with another. The pain had apparently subsided, but his energy had taken a huge beating. Yami and Axel were the only ones able to fight. The Pharaoh was about to order an attack from Dark Magician when Anubis stumbled, his eyes wide.

Axel smirked. "What's wrong, mister almighty sorcerer? You trip over a rock?"

Anubis was more than happy to ignore him. "Insolent pest," he muttered. "How did he manage to break through?!"

At the sound of that, Axel lowered his voice and backed away a few steps, muttering to Yami next to him. "I have a plan, but I'll need your help."

"What's going on?"

"Anubis imprisoned our friends' souls in the Millennium Puzzle, which he's somehow infiltrated."

At the sound of that, Yami cast a stray glance to the gold pendant around his neck. It took all of his will power not to reach for it. "What do we do?"

"The only way for the pyramid to be broken is from in there," Axel continued, "So we're at the mercy of your friends. Once they weaken it, we'll know."

"But what's he muttering about?"

"Someone called the Interloper. He was the first one to find out about Anubis, and it's thanks to him that Sora got here in time." Axel returned his attention to the fight; Anubis had regained his composure.

Yami took his cue and sent a wordless command. Dark Magician sent another blast of energy at Anubis, but once again it was deflected. Yami dodged out of the way just in time for the blast to slam into the force field behind them.

"You think you can stop me?" Anubis snarled. "With the power of my Pyramid of Light, you have no hope of victory!" With that, he sent a wave of white energy slamming into the Pharaoh, sending him tearing through the air and into the force field, where more pain met him. An agonized scream tore from his throat as he sunk to the ground, barely able to stand. His breathing was labored, and his eyes threatened to slam shut.

_Yugi…hurry!_

* * *

The group ran swiftly. Everyone was focused ahead – Sora had gotten over the shock from earlier – and Kuriboh made sure everyone was close enough to see him. Yugi knew he had to hurry. If they were going to escape, much less defeat Anubis, there was no time to lose.

A sudden rush of weakness overtook the boy and he cried out in surprise, sinking to his knees and shivering. Sensing this, Kuriboh also halted and rushed to his side. Jounouchi and Sora paused, and Riku skidded to a stop. "You okay, Yugi?!" Jounouchi cried.

"I don't know," Yugi replied. "I just feel weak all of the sudden…"

"Yami must've taken a hit," Sora said quietly. "Here, let me help." Leaning down, he pulled one of Yugi's arms over his shoulder and helped the boy onto his feet again. As Jounouchi took the other arm, Sora turned his gaze to his silver-haired friend. "Riku, if any heartless show up…"

Riku nodded. "Got it."

The walk was slow, but thankfully there were no obstacles. Kuriboh became increasingly nervous, but finally they made it to a room at the end of one of the darkest corridors. Jounouchi made sure no one was following and Kuriboh nudged the door open.

Behind the door was a fairly large room lined with several jackal-shaped statues, four on the left and four on the right. Ahead was a large depiction of a pyramid, inside which were three pictures of what Yugi recognized as the Egyptian Gods. Above it was a smaller triangle with an eye-shaped ruby in the center, and on a small platform was a sarcophagus similar to the one he had seen in the museum, only it was closed tightly.

"So we can destroy it from in here," Jounouchi muttered. "That was way too easy…"

"I know," Riku muttered in reply. "We're not done yet."

On cue, eight black spheres appeared in the air above the sarcophagus, each with a pair of glowing yellow eyes. Yugi tensed; he knew that these were heartless.

"Possessors!?" Sora cried.

Jounouchi sighed. "It's never easy, is it…"

"Of course not," Riku grumbled. Taking a battle stance, he summoned a dark, wickedly-curved blade in a burst of darkness. "They're going to go after those statues."

Sora turned to the blonde next to him. "Jounouchi, you get Yugi somewhere out of harm's way. We'll deal with the heartless."

Jounouchi nodded. "Got it."

On cue, the little spheres flew about wildly, each taking after a different statue in the room. As they vanished, the statues came to life, standing up and crouching, ready to leap at their opposition. Yugi winced; he had to figure out that prophecy before it was too late!

* * *

Anzu felt something throb in her chest and she barely managed to keep herself from gagging. The silence was almost deafening, and Stitch remained valiantly at the door. At least, at that angle that's what it looked like. Marik had managed to understand most of Stitch's gibberish (it was actually quite similar to Arabic), and had told them that Stitch was getting worried about his friend.

"Sora will be fine," Ishizu said. "He'll be back before you know it."

The alien nodded, but Anzu knew he wasn't sure. She remembered feeling a similar way when Yugi was cut off from them in Duelist Kingdom during his duel with Pegasus. He nearly died that day, and Anzu was terrified that she would never see him again. Maybe Stitch felt the same way. But Anzu knew – even though she hadn't known him long – that Sora wasn't an easy one to take down. He just seemed like the type that could make it through anything.

Stitch's ears drooped. "Ohana."

Anzu's attention was caught. "What?" she asked.

The blue creature continued, but very slowly; he apparently couldn't speak human very well. "Ohana means family. Family means nobody gets left behind. Or forgotten." He had a sudden expression of simply _not knowing_. Anzu knew what he was feeling: he didn't know where Sora was or how he was faring. Before she could speak again, Anzu felt a twinge of pain in her chest, and her thoughts were instantly focused on Yugi. Ishizu noticed and spun her gaze to the girl. "Anzu! Are you okay?"

She shook her head. Something was wrong. Something was very, very wrong…

* * *

"Bad doggie!" Sora bellowed as he slashed at another possessed statue. The animated rocks wouldn't go down easy, but they didn't need to take them down. They were only holding off until Yugi could solve the riddle.

The said duelist narrowed his eyes, searching the room for clues. He eventually spotted the eye above the sarcophagus glowing brilliantly. _That eye up there must be the power source for the pyramid. Maybe…_ He paused, doing an instant double-take. _Wait a minute…an eye. 'The eye that sees what's yet to come,' it's definitely that eye up there. 'Its vision shall be fulfilled…' that must refer to the prophecy coming true. 'Unless blinded by events predetermined…'_ He grinned. _Of course! Predetermined events is just another way of saying 'fate'!_ Yugi grinned, racing past the statues and causing Jounouchi to stare wide-eyed at him. "Guys! The prophecy! I think I have it figured out!"

"Good work, Yugi!" Riku called, shattering one of the statues attacking him. "What do we need to do?"

"The eye on the wall is his power source! The prophecy says the eye can be blinded by fate! If we can figure out what fate they mean, then we can get rid of it!"

Sora narrowed his eyes and gave a stray glance at the keyblade he held in his hands. After only a moment of contemplation, he spun in Yugi's direction. "This ends now!" He shouted, aiming the keyblade at the crimson eye. A beam of light erupted from the tip of the weapon and slammed into the crimson gem, shattering it to countless pieces. Light erupted from around them, and the statues as well as the duelists froze on the spot.

* * *

Yami drug himself to his feet, swaying dangerously on the spot. Roxas had managed to regain his footing thanks to Axel's help. Though the three of them had their strength back, they knew they stood no chance against Anubis. They could only hope that their companions could find his weakness before the sorcerer found theirs.

Anubis cackled, readying another blast of lightning when the world around them trembled, throwing everyone off balance. The swirling in the pyramid's force field halted, and numerous cracks appeared in it as though it were glass. They lengthened, reaching all sides. One by one, fragments of the force field fell to the ground and shattered like porcelain. As it did, Jounouchi finally struggled to his feet, and Yami no longer felt alone. Roxas grinned, and faded away, once more replaced with Sora.

"Impossible!" Anubis cried. "The Pyramid of Light has fallen?"

"You bet it has," Sora replied, sneering. "Prepare to be taken down, Anubis!" He charged forward, keyblade brandished, just as Anubis raised his lance to defend against him. Anticipating this, Sora swept the keyblade low and struck. The aftermath caused Anubis to double over in pain, and he fell to the ground, fading away. The Pyramid of Light pendant he wore burst into fragments, and only the red gem was left.

Yami gasped for breath, and felt a pair of hands on his shoulders. "Take it easy, Yugi," a strange voice told him. Glancing up, Yami noticed a boy in a black cloak holding him steady. Long silver hair fell over the boy's shoulders, and sharp, turquoise eyes gazed blankly back at him.

"Who are you?" Yami asked.

The boy was taken aback, but Sora was more than happy to speak up. "That's my best friend Riku," he said. "Riku, this is Yami."

Riku hesitated. "I thought this was Yugi."

"Technically I am," Yami replied, "But we're still two different people if you get my meaning. Kind of like Sora and Roxas."

The silver-haired boy began to speak again, but Sora just grinned. "I'll explain later."

The group began to walk off when a low cackling met their ears, accompanied by a familiar chant.

**Peteh…nebw…mer n seshep…**

Axel's eyes widened. "He's back?!" He cried. "But I thought…"

Before the replica could finish, the entire group noticed the crimson gem glowing with a dark and malevolent aura. A black flame burst upward from it, and the murky ooze exploded from the ground, taking the form of a four-legged beast. Wickedly curved, sharp claws emerged from four paws. The gem became the center of the monster's chest, energy spreading from it and across the monster's body. A long tail sprouted, and the creature's head quickly conformed to the shape of a jackal's, razor-sharp fangs protruding from its great maw. It roared in fury, blood-red eyes focusing immediately on the group.

**Shadows take life…darkness be born… Come forth, heartless!**

A flood of darkness spread across the ground, from which a whole horde of Neoshadows emerged. Yami clenched his teeth and backed away.

**You have no concept of my power, Pharaoh, and now the end begins!**


	42. Shining Nova

Oh, smeg!

Disclaimer: _Yu-Gi-Oh!_ is owned by Kazuki Takahashi. _Kingdom Hearts_ is owned by Tetsuya Nomura and all that.

* * *

**Duel Disks and Keyblades**

**By FlikFreak**

**Chapter Forty-Two: Shining Nova**

* * *

For the first time, Yugi was actually very happy that most of the citizens had fled the city in Anubis's wake. Now that the sorcerer had transformed himself into a great beast, there was no telling what kind of destruction he would wreak. He didn't particularly want to stick around and find out, but it was a bit late to be running.

Sora stood fast, keyblade at ready. Axel had his Chakrams ready to strike of the monster did so much as sneeze. Jounouchi was still regaining his composure, so Riku was in front of him with his own weapon ready. Yugi had taken control again, and by his side was Dark Magician, still ready to attack. As Yugi glanced at him, he noticed that the magician was none too fond of Anubis's beast form, and was ready to expect anything.

Anubis didn't stall. He roared furiously, sending a dark burst of flame headed straight for the group. They barely managed to dodge in time, and instead the hellfire slammed into the building behind them, flaring out all the way to the other side. The Neoshadows took their chance to strike, and Sora barely managed to slash a few away with the keyblade.

Yugi didn't like the way this was looking. "We need a plan! We can't fight him forever!"

The keyblade master nodded. "I know!" he cried. As they watched, the scales on Anubis's back formed into small cannons, out of which launched a barrage of dark fireballs, each slamming into various buildings, poles, and bulletin boards.

Roxas appeared behind Sora, gritting his teeth. _There's something in the corner of his mind,_ He informed Yugi. _He thinks it may be the key to stop Anubis, but he can't quite figure it out._

Yami appeared behind Yugi, nodding to Roxas. _We'll have to hold him off until then,_ he replied. _In the meantime, we have a whole army of heartless to deal with._

Sora sent a few dozen fireballs in rapid succession toward Anubis, but they were easily deflected off of the monster's diamond-hard skin. And right back at him, sending him crashing backward and screaming in pain. As they watched, a wickedly-curved blade appeared on Anubis's head, and a pair of wings sprouted from its back. The sorcerer-turned-fiend roared, standing up on his hind legs.

Yugi was about to order an attack when Anubis sent another stream of flame toward them. He barely made it out of the way in time; he was singed, but otherwise fine. His deck, however, had been scattered across the ground. He scampered to recover the cards that had fallen out, and only looked up in time to see a small crowd of Neoshadows ready to pounce on him…

"Blue punch buggy!"

Before the heartless could make a move, they were swept aside by – Yugi blinked a few times to make sure – a large, blue Volkswagen Beetle. The Neoshadows vanished upon sight, and the few that came closer to attack the vehicle ended up being smashed by it, followed by a defiant cry of "No punch back!"

Sora, whom was close by, did a double-take. "Stitch? What're you guys doing here?"

Marik, Ishizu, Anzu and Mokuba had arrived on the scene with the blue alien, whom apparently was the one that wielded the automobile against the heartless. Marik rubbed his neck, speaking first. "Anzu said she felt something wrong, so we came as fast as we could. That and your little friend here is _very_ persuasive."

Stitch laughed and jabbered a few words, causing Marik to glare at him furiously. "What do you mean, I'm gullible?!"

"We don't have time for this!" Axel cried, helping Jounouchi to his feet. "Beast-boy's going to go on a rampage and we're still a card short of a deck!"

_A card,_ Yami echoed. _That's it! Roxas, didn't Sora…?_

Roxas's eyes widened. _Of course! Sora, do you still have it?_

Sora nodded, reaching into his pocket. As Yugi watched, the boy pulled out the card that Pegasus gave him, slipped in backwards in a card sleeve. As he pulled it out, the image appeared, and his eyes widened. Roxas moved likewise, and Sora spun his gaze to Yugi, throwing the card through the air to him. The duelist caught it, and sent Sora a questioning look, to which the keyblade master shook his head. "That's the only thing that can beat him!" He said simply.

Deciding to ask later, Yugi held the card in the air, crying out. "I summon the Blue-Eyes Shining Dragon!"

A bright light shone from the sky, forming into a majestic beast. It was a pure white dragon with azure veins running over its body. Two hind legs were armed with razor-sharp claws, and two plane-esque wings adorned with several feather-shaped objects unfolding from them spread across the sky. Large sapphire gems only added to its beauty – two on each wing, one on its torso and one on the center of its head, on which were two narrow azure eyes. A whip-like tail was also present waving slowly and elegantly as the creature appeared before them.

Anubis prepared to fire another blast of dark hellfire when the dragon engulfed itself in a beautiful white force field of sorts. A beam of prismatic white energy shot from the dragon's maw and slammed into Anubis, sending him crashing into the ground. As Anubis began to struggle to his feet, the dragon swept in, clawing at him with its talons. Such a display of power was terrifying, but graceful all the same. Slowly but surely, Anubis was falling.

_Yugi, now!_

Yugi didn't need a prompt. He knew what to do. "Shining Nova! Destroy Anubis!"

The force field around the Blue-Eyes Shining Dragon grew wider and wider until it engulfed the entire area – the duelists, the dragon and Anubis's beast form. While the heartless vanished in wisps of black mist, their master began to melt like wax.

**Such power…it should be mine…!**

As Anubis looked forward, the Millennium Puzzle began to pulse. Even as he faded away, the sorcerer-turned-monster began to cackle. Yugi hesitated; Anubis was defeated! What was he after now?

**Of course…the power I sought was before me this entire time! Now, that power shall belong to me!**

A burst of dark flame shot from the red gem toward the eye of the Millennium Puzzle, slamming into it and causing Yugi to stumble backward. Anubis's physical figure vanished, and the muck that it left behind slowly began to sink back into the earth.

"Is he gone?" Anzu asked.

Ishizu shook her head. "No. I can still sense him nearby."

"Same here," Marik added. "Only someone like that can give me creeps like this."

Sora shook his head a bit as though trying to rid himself of a headache. "But we saw him go down! How is he still here?"

"He has sealed himself inside the Millennium Puzzle."

Everyone's head spun in the same direction. There, standing nearby, was a dark-skinned man with blank blue eyes. On his head was a small turban, and he was cloaked in creamy-white robes. Around his neck was a rope necklace on which dangled a key-shaped ankh. His face expressed no emotion.

"Shadi?!" Yugi and Yami cried simultaneously.

Riku didn't seem surprised. "Good to see you made it," He said.

Sora, however, was stunned. He looked from Yugi, to Shadi, to Riku and back again. "Wait a sec," He began. "How do _you_ know him, Riku?"

"While I was looking for you I ran into him," the silver-haired teen replied. "He told me that things were about to get pretty chaotic around here, so I went looking for you."

Yugi spared a glance at Marik and Ishizu, whose expressions were unreadable. Everyone else seemed surprised, Sora mostly so. He quickly returned back to the matter at hand. "Shadi," he began, "Why did Anubis seal himself in the Millennium Puzzle? We've taken him down already; he's got nothing left."

"He has sealed his spirit in the puzzle," Shadi calmly explained, "Just as he sealed yours and your friends' when the Pyramid of Light appeared. He now wanders within in search of the Pharaoh's power."

"You're awfully calm about it," Sora scowled. "What do you expect us to do, turban head?"

If Shadi was offended, he didn't show it. "With the power of my Millennium Key, I can send you into the Millennium Puzzle, but leaving will be up to you."

"But we just got out of there," Jounouchi whimpered.

"You're still tired," Yugi protested. "You should stay here. I'll go."

"You're not going alone," Sora added. "I'm going with you."

Riku nodded accordingly. "Me too. I can't let Sora have all the fun."

Shadi nodded. "Very well, then." He closed his eyes and took the ankh off of his neck, holding it up in the air. A blinding golden light shone from it, and Yugi found himself unable to see or hear…

* * *

And you thought this was the end, didn't you?! Admit it!

Yeah. We can't end this thing _quite _yet.


	43. Finality

Disclaimer: _Yu-Gi-Oh!_ is owned by Kazuki Takahashi. _Kingdom Hearts_ is owned by Tetsuya Nomura and all that.

* * *

**Duel Disks and Keyblades**

**By FlikFreak**

**Chapter Forty-Three: Finality**

* * *

Yugi, Riku and Sora lie still on the ground. Axel had not yet dismissed his chakrams; he did not trust Shadi completely, and there were still a few heartless wandering around, no doubt. Jounouchi was still resting up with the replica's help. Anzu was sitting next to Yugi's sleeping form and Stitch was next to Sora, both staring on in hope that they would return soon. Marik still had a rather hateful gaze locked onto Shadi, and Ishizu had left to take Mokuba home. The scene was, altogether, silent and eerie. Everyone knew where the sleeping boys really were, and what they were doing, but the fact that they did not want their friends following them only put them more on edge…what kind of dangers were they facing now?

Stitch growled and nudged Sora gently. When the boy did not move, he sent a glare to Shadi before returning his attention to the matter at hand. Axel caught wind of the alien's antics and smiled. "They'll be back."

"How can you be so sure?" Marik asked. "I know Yugi somehow manages to make it through anything, but what about Sora?"

"Sora will be fine," Axel replied. "Sure, he's a complete goofball, but he can take care of himself. I saw him take on a thousand heartless single-handedly once."

"Not bad," Jounouchi commented, grinning. "How'd he pull _that_ off?"

Axel chuckled. "By being very inventive."

It was clear they weren't going to get more of an answer than that.

"Besides," Axel continued, "Roxas isn't here right now. My guess is he hitched a ride on the way in, so to speak."

"How does that work out?" Jounouchi asked. "When that pyramid thing showed up, we all got sucked in except for the Pharaoh and Roxas. How'd they go in again?"

"I've seen it before," Axel replied, exchanging a glance with Stitch before going on. "When Sora's best friend Kairi lost her heart, she didn't really become a Nobody. Her heart wasn't really lost to darkness, so her body still existed the way it should, only she didn't really move or respond to anyone. She was like a zombie."

"How do _you_ know all that?" Marik questioned.

"Roxas told me," was the quiet answer the replica gave. "He has memories of his own – though they're basically fake – but he also has Sora's memories. When he and the real Axel still worked in the Organization, they were good friends and they talked a lot. Sure, Nobodies don't have hearts, but we're not really mindless puppets either." He stood, releasing Jounouchi. "Anyway, it looks like Yami's with them too. Let's just hope that Anubis hasn't found what he's looking for yet."

Stitch shuddered noticeably, his ears drooping. It was clear that he identified with Axel's sentiment. Everyone else worried more for what terrible thing Axel and Stitch could possibly be thinking of, but Shadi remained unreadable as ever. Instead, the mysterious man fixed his gaze on the puzzle still around Yugi's neck. Anzu couldn't discern what the man was thinking, but she knew one thing for certain: it wasn't good.

* * *

"I think 'Fluffy' has taken a liking to you, Roxas."

The Nobody stared blankly as a large ball of brown fur nuzzled him. "Er…Fluffy?"

Yugi laughed. "Kuriboh's just a really friendly little guy."

Yami chuckled. He, Yugi, Sora and Roxas had been transported into the Millennium Puzzle in order to find Anubis and keep him from finding whatever it was he was looking for. The Pharaoh had a feeling that Roxas and Sora knew what he was looking for, but he wasn't about to get any answers from them anytime soon.

Sora smiled. "Kuriboh," he called. The little fiend instantly swiveled its attention to the keyblade master. "You kept trying to lead me to something the last few times I came. We need to get there now. Can you help us?"

Kuriboh bobbed in the air, and once again the group followed him. It was not long after they had navigated through the labyrinth that they met with an unexpected guest.

There, standing in front of them was none other than Anubis himself, back in his human form rather than as a beast. Yami could tell something was not right with this man; an incredibly powerful darkness flowed off of him. The Pyramid of Light no longer hung around his neck, but a familiar crimson gem was embedded in his chest. He had a manic smile spread across his face, and his eyes were tinted a furious red.

Sora did not hesitate to step out from behind the corner. "You thought you could get away, Anubis?"

Anubis spun on the spot, shocked to see that the Keyblade Master had followed him. "Impossible!" He cried. "You were released from the Millennium Puzzle when the pyramid was destroyed!"

"I decided to pay a visit," Sora snarled in reply. Roxas, Yugi and Yami also walked out from behind the corner, Kuriboh close by.

The sorcerer sneered. "You can't possibly stop me now," he declared, a grin climbing up his face. "I know where the power I seek is, and once it is mine, so shall be this entire world!"

"In case you haven't noticed," Roxas retorted, "You don't have a body, and I'm pretty sure Yugi isn't about to give you his. He's already occupied if you haven't noticed."

Anubis wasn't humored. With a flick of his finger, a string of white energy flew out, missing Roxas by inches. The Nobody replied in kind by a rush forward with the keyblade brandished. Sora was not far behind. Yami glanced at Yugi, whom stayed close to Kuriboh. Nodding, he called out to Dark Magician Girl, whom was at his side in moments.

Sora paused, sparing a glance at the young mage. "I know you!" He exclaimed. Dark Magician Girl cooed at him before leaping into the fray, her expression changing into a serious one. Kuriboh stood valiantly in front of Yugi as though to shield him.

Anubis took the first strike, summoning his lance and striking out at Roxas. The Nobody skidded backward, but Sora covered and took his own strike at the Sorcerer, managing to strike him on his lance arm. Dark Magician Girl took her cue and sent a wave of dark magic toward him, knocking him off of his feet.

"Imbeciles!" Anubis bellowed as he swept his lance awkwardly toward Dark Magician Girl, whom deftly blocked the assault and struck back with her wand, striking him in the ribs before backing away again. Sora followed up with a thunder spell that he sent at the magician, but it was easily deflected back with a simple wave of the man's hand.

Sora gritted his teeth. "Everyone!" He cried. "Come here!"

Roxas knew what Sora was planning, and it was easy for him to know what was going on. Yugi, guarded by the ever-faithful Kuriboh, made his way over. Yami hesitated, but he found himself unguarded quickly when Dark Magician girl stumbled and he made his way over. "What's going on?" He asked.

Sora shook his head. "If we're all close enough, this should work."

"It's a bit risky," Roxas said, apparently agreeing with Yami.

"Just trust me."

Dark Magician Girl found herself in a tight spot very quickly, and rushed to her master's side, fitting closely into the group. Anubis took quick notice at them and grinned. "This is far too convenient for me," he said, grinning. "You choose to protect yourselves rather than attack me? Then so shall it bring about your downfall!" He brought his hands in the air and slowly spread them apart, forming an enormous sphere of white energy.

Sora narrowed his eyes. "Everyone," he muttered, "I'm going to need your help with this."

"How?" Yugi asked. "What can we do against that?"

"Trust me," Sora replied. "Just stay right where you are. If you move, we don't stand a chance." With that, he held the keyblade backwards in his hand, closing his eyes

Anubis cackled, sending his attack at them. The moment it would have hit, a flash of light erupted before them, and the attack seemed to have halted. A shield of shimmering hexagons had appeared around them, and as the attack landed each of them became more visible, absorbing the light and glowing to a white-hot level. Sora's eyes snapped open, and the shield around them pulsed violently, sending the beam headed right back for Anubis.

The sorcerer found no time to move when his own attack was launched right back at him, slamming him into the wall nearby. Anubis screamed in agony, falling to his knees as he melted away in a similar fashion that his beast form did. With his last heaving breaths, he sent an infuriated glare to the group standing before him and spoke.

"Ka kherrer teh…peraa mesedge…eeoo ee herr eoo!"

The crimson gem at his feet was all that remained of him, but as they watched it cracked and shattered, its fragments vanishing.

* * *

That leaves us with only one more task...chapter 44 coming up soon!


	44. Turning the Key

Well, here's the last official chapter… (sniffles)

Disclaimer: _Yu-Gi-Oh!_ is owned by Kazuki Takahashi. _Kingdom Hearts_ is owned by Tetsuya Nomura and all that.

* * *

**Duel Disks and Keyblades**

**By FlikFreak**

**Chapter Forty-Four: Turning the Key**

* * *

Yugi couldn't help but wince. Riku was having a bit of trouble supporting Sora even with help from Roxas. Dark Magician Girl eventually had to take Riku's place in supporting Sora, to which the keyblade master gratefully accepted (but as for why, Yugi didn't have the slightest idea). Kuriboh had insisted on them continuing, but whatever spell that Sora had used had drained him of nearly all of his energy and thus it was difficult for him to stand. Thankfully, the brown ball of fluff was moving much more calmly, and the duelist had a strong feeling that Anubis was the cause for his worry earlier. The question was where he was trying to lead them to.

Eventually, Yugi tilted his head curiously. "Something feels kind of different," He muttered.

"What does?" Riku asked.

"It's sort of like I feel safe here," Yugi continued. "I know this is Yami's soul room and he's completely at home, and I should be the same in my own room, but I can't really shake this off. It's like I was meant to be here."

Yami's face was as stern as ever. Yugi could tell that the Pharaoh was hiding something from him, but he could also tell that he wasn't about to get any answers. He sighed inwardly and resorted to waiting.

It wasn't long before Kuriboh finally turned another corner, cheerful as ever, but a whimper escaped from him, echoing off the walls, and he found a hiding spot behind Sora. There before them stood the Dark Magician.

"Not again," Sora groaned.

"Again?" Riku questioned. "You've been here before?"

Sora nodded. "Yeah. I got sucked in while we were searching the museum a few days ago. This guy nearly kicked my butt."

Yugi spared a glance at Yami. "Is that why you didn't summon him earlier?" He asked.

Yami nodded. "Correct. He was guarding for me." He stepped forward. "Dark Magician, you may step aside."

The Magician looked suspiciously over the crowd for a moment and stood fast. "Master," he began, "You arrive with strangers. What is their business here?"

"The only one truly with business here is Sora," the Pharaoh replied. "Kuriboh has been trying to lead him past you for a good time now, and I'm sure it's about time that you let him pass."

"But Master, I-"

"Are you ever going to stop being such a stiff?!" Dark Magician Girl grumbled, crossing her arms. It took everyone by surprise when she spoke – only Sora and Yami had actually heard her speak before – but she easily ignored their strange glances and continued. "I know it was bad enough when Shadi tried to pay an unwanted visit, but just because they're strangers doesn't mean they're out to destroy you or anything! Besides, Sora's already taken a beating; can't you give this all a rest?"

Dark Magician sighed, rubbing his temples. Before he could reply, Kuriboh was already in front of him, glaring angrily and babbling to the mage. In reply, Dark Magician shook his head. "He _is_ your ka, isn't he," he muttered, and then he stepped aside. "Very well, enter if you wish, but tread cautiously."

They did. Kuriboh followed Yugi closely, but Dark Magician Girl remained behind, standing next to her mentor. She had her usual smile, and the Dark Magician – though he always seemed stern – was also relaxed similarly. Yugi nodded to them politely, mouthing a silent "thank-you" before turning back around.

The room was pitch-black at first, but gradually several lamps set into the wall began to light aflame. To each side of the room were several golden statues depicting majestic birds and sphinxes. In the front of the room, however, was the most fantastic display. There were three more statues, each depicting one of the three Egyptian God Cards – Obelisk, Slifer and Ra – with stunning detail. It strongly reminded Yugi of a throne room of sorts.

Sora was finally alright enough to walk on his own and took his arm off of Riku. Yugi could see the boy narrowing his eyes at the three statues ahead in slight suspicion. In a moment of wonder, the keyblade appeared in front of Sora in a subtle flash of light, floating in the air. Sora took it, and lowered it by his side. The tip flashed, and a similar light appeared in the center of the three Egyptian God Statues.

"What's going on?" Yugi muttered. Yami did not reply; he simply crossed his arms and kept watching.

The light in the center of the statues grew and formed, but just as quickly, it faded, leaving a keyhole-shaped recession in the wall. Calmly, as though it was a routine basis, Sora lifted the keyblade from his side and pointed forward, the tip directly pointed at the keyhole. A light gathered at the end of the keyblade, growing brighter for a few seconds before striking forward into the keyhole before them. A strange radiance burst outward upon contact, and in moments it was done. As the light faded, so did the keyhole, which dissolved into gold-tinted dust that vanished as it rose upward.

Riku grinned. "Mission accomplished, Sora?"

"Yeah," Sora replied, nodding. "I still can't believe it was right in front of us this whole time."

Yugi still couldn't believe his eyes. After blinking and rubbing them a bit, he finally found the words to speak. "So this is where Kuriboh was trying to lead us to this entire time?"

The furball in question bobbed up and down in utmost excitement, squealing happily. He wasted no time in bouncing right over to Sora and nuzzling him on the cheek, to which the keyblade master replied by ruffling the creature's fur. "I guess so," He said. "Thanks, Kuriboh. We couldn't have found it without your help."

Yami gave Sora a rather odd look – similar to the one he had on his face when Yugi swapped with him to date Anzu – and rubbed the back of his neck. Yugi, on the other hand, only grinned. "What's wrong, Yami? It's not every day someone pets Kuriboh."

"I'm fine with it, only he's petting my _ka_."

"Fine, so your _soul_ is getting a petting session," Yugi teased.

Yami's hands balled into fists as he protested. "Y-Yugi!" The intimidating image was, however, ruined by the fact that the Pharaoh's cheeks were flushed red. Unfortunately for him, the entire group – including Kuriboh – laughed. Yami finally gave up, sighing.

"We should get going," Riku said. "Sora doesn't have any more business he needs to attend to here."

Sora nodded. "Yeah. My friends are waiting for me at home." With that, he lifted the keyblade into the air, and a bright light shone forth…

* * *

Yugi opened his eyes to find Anzu hovering over him. He was back on the street where they had defeated beast-form Anubis earlier, but Shadi was nowhere in sight, and neither were the Ishtars. Yami was in spirit form sitting next to him, and Sora was busy rubbing his head while Roxas stared blankly at the sky. Riku was completely composed, sitting casually on the ground with one arm propped up on his knee. Nearby, Axel and Jounouchi attempted to convince Stitch that Sora was indeed just fine (the alien had apparently had an upset when his friend passed out earlier). The two apparently hadn't had much success until Sora reached out and ruffled Stitch's fur, prompting a tackling hug from the little blue creature.

Sitting up, Yugi rubbed his eyes and took a deep breath. "So what now?" he asked.

Sora gave Yugi a sad smile. "I've done what I need to do here in Domino City. It's about time I went home."

"But you haven't been here for even a week!" Anzu softly protested. "You should at least visit a bit longer!"

"I can't," Sora replied, shaking his head. "I have a promise to keep." With that, he pulled a small star-shaped charm made of seashells from his pocket. Riku nodded at it knowingly, and Yugi bit his lip. Roxas had showed him the charm when he had been drawn into Sora's soul room; it was the one that his friend gave him.

"You'll come back to visit though, right?" Jounouchi asked eagerly.

"Of course," Sora replied, nodding. "I'll send Stiltzkin to keep in touch. If you want to send me a letter or anything, call for him and he'll come."

Yugi nodded. "We will."

Riku smiled and put a hand on Sora's shoulder. "Come on, Sora. Everyone's waiting."

The keyblade master and his friend gave a final wave of farewell and walked away, but not before the greeting was returned in kind by Yugi, Yami, Anzu, Jounouchi and Axel. Stitch scurried after his master, and the three foreigners vanished.

It was only moments later that a cry of "Wait!" erupted from nearby, followed by a flurry of footsteps. Yugi looked to the side to see Mokuba approaching at a rapid pace, holding a box in his hands. Upon noticing that Sora was gone, however, the boy sulked. "He's gone already?"

Jounouchi nodded. "Yeah. He went home just a few seconds ago."

Mokuba sighed. "He forgot his Duel Disk. Seto said he found it and it still had Sora's deck in it. Is there a way we can send it to him?"

Yami and Yugi exchanged glances and nodded. "I can," Yugi replied. "He'll get it, I promise."

"By the way," Anzu began, "Why didn't you go with them, Axel?"

Axel grinned. "Sora's home isn't where I'm from. I technically shouldn't even exist, either, so I don't exactly have a home."

Mokuba grinned widely. "I'm sure Seto can arrange something!" He said hopefully.

The conversation continued, and Yugi felt himself staring at the sky. _Do you really think Sora will come back?_ He asked Yami.

_He will,_ the spirit replied, giving off one of his rare smiles. _I'm sure of it._

As Yugi watched, a shooting star soared across the sky.

**The End**

* * *

Oh, man...I'm so terrible at writing goodbyes. I can't believe this fic is over! Well, aside from the epilogue that is... Thank you all for reading!


	45. Epilogue

The Epilogue! Contains the actual epilogue, bloopers, character profiles, special thanks and...?

Disclaimer: _Yu-Gi-Oh!_ is owned by Kazuki Takahashi. _Kingdom Hearts_ is owned by Tetsuya Nomura and all that.

* * *

**Duel Disks and Keyblades**

**By FlikFreak**

**Epilogue**

* * *

Yugi sighed inwardly, smiling. It had been a week or so since Sora had left. That week had been so chaotic, and it all only started with a simple duel catching Jounouchi's attention as he made his way to the game shop to visit. Sora had his own reasons to come, but had he not met the boy this mess would have probably taken a vastly different turn. The tournament that had happened shortly after Sora left seemed interesting, but Yugi passed it by, content only to watch, though several of the competitors challenged him outside the main event just for fun, but otherwise relaxed at home. After all of the chaos concerning the Heartless and Nobodies, Yugi really needed a break.

"This is for Sora, kupo?"

The duelist nodded, handing the boxed Duel Disk to the moogle in front of him. "Yeah. Tell him it's from Yugi, and that there's a letter inside from Pegasus."

Stiltzkin nodded and happily flew out the window. Yami promptly appeared next to Yugi and gave him his usual suspicious look. _Pegasus sent Sora a letter?_

Yugi nodded. _Yeah. He sent it to me, but he mentioned that he wanted me to give it to Sora._

_I see. I wonder what he's up to…_

* * *

The sound of fingers at a keyboard was the only sound that filled Seto Kaiba's office for a while. Mokuba teased him often for missing Sora, and as much as Kaiba denied it, he inwardly admitted that his little brother was right. After having a troubled childhood, Seto always had trouble getting close to anyone other than Mokuba – even as a friend – but there was something about Sora that just pulled him in. That boy had gone through a troubling past of his own and somehow still managed to wear a smile on his face all the time. Mokuba had told Seto that Sora's last words before he left were that he was going to come back and visit sometime, and Seto secretly hoped that he would.

**Greetings, Mister Kaiba.**

Seto's thoughts popped like a soap bubble when he heard the odd, computerized voice. In fact, he nearly fell out of his chair, but managed to counter this by standing up and leaning forward, slamming his hands onto the desk. "What the-"

**Oh! Sorry for startling you, sir. I hope I'm not interrupting anything.**

"Who the hell are you?" Seto demanded, sitting down with an incredulous look on his face. He had spoken to his computer before – the one hidden underneath the island at Duelist Kingdom – but that one he had personally installed an A.I. into (mainly to keep out hackers and intruders). His company's database shouldn't have had one.

**My name is Tron. I'm a security program.**

_A security program, huh?_ Seto mused. After a moment of thought, he reached for the phone and began dialing at record speed. He wanted answers, and he wanted them now.

* * *

"Yugi! It's for you!"

The duelist made his way downstairs after seeing Stiltzkin off, picking up the phone from its spot on the counter. "Hello, Yugi Mutou here."

"_Yugi, you have some explaining to do!"_

Yugi did a double-take. "Kaiba? What's wrong?"

"_You should know precisely what's wrong! My computer is talking to me! I _know_ you have something to do with this, so start talking!"_

The duelist chuckled and Yami appeared, giving him a sly look. Yugi returned the gesture, smiling knowingly. _Should we tell him what went on when we entered the system?_

Yami grinned mischievously. _Nah. Just explain Tron; that should be enough for him. You know how he feels about the supernatural._

"_Yugi!"_

"All right, all right. About Tron…"

* * *

Sora had been home for about a month, relaxing and enjoying peace for a while when Stiltzkin gave him a start. He immediately summoned the keyblade, worried that a Nobody was attacking, but he was thankful to find that the only arrival was the moogle. To say he was excited was an understatement; he was very happy to receive contact from Yugi so quickly, though when he saw the package he was rather surprised; he had forgotten all about his duel disk and deck in the midst of tracking down and defeating Anubis.

"There's a letter inside, kupo!" Stiltzkin told him. "Do you want me to wait for you to read it and write back?"

"No thanks," Sora said, smiling. "I'll call you up if I need you. You should get some rest."

Stiltzkin thanked him and flew off. Sora opened the package to find his duel disk inside as well as a small tin box containing his deck. There were also two small folded pieces of paper, which Sora curiously took out, unfolding the smaller of the two and reading it. He could immediately tell that Stiltzkin had translated them – Sora didn't understand the alphabet they used in Domino City, and Stiltzkin's writing tended to be rather awkward – and eagerly read.

_Dear Sora-kun,__It's me, Yugi. How are you? Things have been alright here in Domino City. I ended up not joining that tournament though; Yami and I were exhausted, so we just watched. Some people still challenged us to duels anyway, but we had fun. Jounouchi-kun entered the tournament but Kaiba-kun beat him again. Axel is working with Anzu at the department store now, and they're getting a lot more business. I think it's because Axel's got Anzu's fashion sense now; most of the new regulars are girls.  
_

_How are you and your friends? Is Roxas doing okay?_

_I hope to see you soon,  
Yugi_

Sora scratched his head curiously. Whatever language Yugi spoke was certainly an odd one (Sora-_kun_?), but he was happy to hear from him either way. Quickly, the boy grabbed a pen and paper and began to write.

_Dear Yugi,_

_I'm doing great! It's been really quiet here. Riku's still kind of quiet, but he and I still spar with our wooden swords every now and then. The score's 10 to 10, so next time we fight we settle the score. Kairi's finally back from summer camp; if you don't know who she is she's the girl in the picture I'm sending you._

Sora paused, casting a glance at the dusty camera on his shelf. If he couldn't use it, he'd just have to borrow Riku's.

_I miss everyone so much. Roxas is doing okay. He doesn't talk to me much, but then again he never really does. I'm going to head out today and visit with some of my friends to see how they are; I haven't spoken with them in ages._

_Take care,  
Sora_

Sora folded up his letter and tucked it under his pillow before opening the next letter. It was very formal, topped with an I² logo. Tilting his head, he read the letter cautiously. After setting it down, he crossed his arms and stared out the window, a strange look on his face.

_Who was it from?_ Roxas asked, appearing on Sora's bed.

"It was from that Pegasus guy," Sora replied. "He was wondering if I had shown Duel Monsters to my friends yet."

Roxas rolled his eyes. _He probably wants to spread his product around the universe._

Sora shrugged. "It would be nice to show other people the game," he pointed out. "I mean, aside from you I can't play with anyone here, and it wouldn't be fair if we played against each other. We technically use the same deck."

_You have a point there, I guess._

Tucking his duel disk and camera into his backpack and his deck into one of his jacket pockets, Sora made his way downstairs and out to the road where several of his friends were passing by. He waved at them, managing to get their attention. "Hey guys, come here! I wanna show you something. There's this game I played while I was gone, it's called Duel Monsters…"

**Epilogue End!**

* * *

**Bloopers**

_**Blooper 1: Mis-summoned**_

As Yami took control of Yugi's now-digital form, he couldn't help but stumble slightly, but he was quick to regain composure. Swiping a card from the deck on his duel-disk arm, he examined it. _Not much different from Duel Monsters, I see,_ he muttered. Lifting the card into the air, he cried out, "Come forth, Obnoxious Celtic Guardian!"

A warrior sprung to life from a beam of light shining from the card, and a warrior strikingly similar to a young man that Yugi knew as "Link" appeared, grunting, "I'm so obnoxious!"

Sora stared blankly. "Um, Yugi…how is that supposed to work?"

"Well, by pestering these things by being obnoxious, we'll win in no time!"

* * *

_**Blooper 2: We need better shoes, partner.**_

There was a brief golden flash of light and the two swapped, Yami now taking Yugi's place. As Yami took control of Yugi's now-digital form, he couldn't help but stumble slightly...

_Ra, damn it! Yugi, I told you we shouldn't have worn platforms!_

* * *

_**Blooper 3: Fighting in Cyberspace is Trippy**_

**We're right here, Kaiba.** Another voice. This time it was clearly Yugi's, only causing the young CEO to stagger a bit more. **We haven't found the actual hacker yet, but we've definitely found where he is and what he's up to. We're trying to stop him with whatever we've got, so give us some time.**

"Why should I?" Kaiba grumbled.

As though to answer, there were a few small thuds from the speakers before Sora spoke up. **We've kinda got our hands full, Kaiba!** More thuds and a slashing sound followed.

**Well done, Sora – just trip over me, why don't you! I know I'm small, but geez!**

* * *

_**Blooper 4: The System is Down**_

Yugi swept a glowing-edged card from his deck, and called forth Kuriboh. Yami was still controlling the Dark Magician from afar, and Sora was slashing away. _Come on,_ he begged silently. _Can't it load faster?_ He glanced up at the large database screen that wasn't possessed by the hackers. Nintey-nine percent. Almost there…

**System Error. **

"Nooooooooooooo!" Yugi cried, falling to his knees. "I'll never get to wreck the inside of Kaiba's computer again!"

* * *

_**Blooper 5: Security is never punctual**_

Sora blinked and did a double take. Leaning to the side, he noticed that the data screen now read one-hundred percent, and he spun around happily to see a familiar figure standing behind him and waving. "Hope I'm not too late," he said.

"Dude! Where the hell have you been? You're VERY late!"

* * *

_**Blooper 6: ORLY?**_

Tron nodded politely. "Greetings." There was a momentary pause while Tron took a closer look at the two duelists. "Are you two twins?"

Yugi and Yami frantically glanced at each other and paled. "No way!" They shrieked simultaneously. "Us, twins?! What gave you that idea?"

Sora smacked his forehead.

* * *

_**Blooper 7: Attack of the Fake Exit**_

Sure enough, after one more corner, the wall was in sight. Sora and Yami took off full-speed ahead toward the crack ahead of them-

-and smack! Sora heard Yami groan from his left. "An invisible wall?!"

* * *

_**Blooper 8: Shame On You**_

Axel, whom had been fighting nearby, slumped onto the ground. "I can't believe this," he groaned. "I should have known better…"

"Yeah, you should've!" Admonished Yami, waggling his finger.

"I'm so sorry!" Axel cried out in shame, falling to his hands and knees. "Please forgive me, master!"

* * *

_**Blooper 9: Watch Your Mouth**_

Yami and Sora exchanged glances. "Is that…"

Sora nodded at his friend. "You can see him?" he asked quietly, as though his words would shatter the image in front of them.

Roxas screamed in agony as he broke into tiny little pieces and vanished. Sora began to sob. "No!" cried the brunette. "I didn't mean it!"

* * *

_**Blooper 10: Who Are You?**_

Hordes of Dusk appeared in the street, to which there was no problem for Sora and Axel to cut through. Yami did not hesitate to help either; a few blasts from the Dark Magician helped clear the way. Though his mind should have been focused on making it to safety, Sora couldn't help but wonder about the appearance of the boy.

_Roxas…?_

_**No Sora, – It's Superman, **_echoed a voice in the brunette's head.

* * *

_**Blooper 11: Saving the Best for Last**_

The leader grunted in disappointment and turned around. "Releasing another sphinx this soon may not be a good plan. If we can manage to wear him down or at least defeat him sooner, there will be no need to use the Last Resort…"

Zexion's eyes widened. "You couldn't mean…"

"Yes, Zexion..." The leader laughed loudly, sounding thoroughly manic. "I shall call my mother!"

* * *

_**Blooper 12: Round Two, Commence?**_

Roxas grinned broadly. "Actually, Axel and I are best friends."

"Best friends that nearly killed each other," the replica moaned.

"Oh, knock it off. I've already forgiven you."

"Okay..." An awkward silence fell until Axel continued, "Can I kill you again then?"

* * *

_**Blooper 13: The All-Knowing Flurry of Flames**_

"That's precisely what he's doing," Axel said. "I may be a replica but I still have the real Axel's memory, and don't think I've forgotten what you got from Yen Sid, Sora."

Sora cast an odd glance downward. "You mean my shoes?" He asked quietly, eyes darting back up to glare at Axel. "No one was supposed to know about the shoes!! HOW DO YOU KNOW?!"

Axel narrowed his eyes, and hissed, "I know _all_, Sora..."

* * *

_**Blooper 14: Always Wear a Seatbelt**_

Rishid looked doubtful. "Are you sure he'll know?"

"Positive," Marik replied. "The kidnapper directed me to Domino City. Either he's set up base here or he's after the Pharaoh as well. Yugi's bound to know something."

"A wise deduction," Rishid said with an odd grin, hitting the gas pedal as an opening came in traffic. Unfortunately, due to his face turned Marik and not the road, he failed to see the large van with a "FRAGILE" sign on it's back door.

Hours later, their demolished car was lifted from a nearby ditch via helicopter.

* * *

_**Blooper 15: Not Yours**_

"Your clothes are actually kind of cool, Sora," Anzu commented. "Where'd you get them?"

Sora rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "Actually, they were made especially for me," he replied. A smug smile appeared on his face. "Mine, all mine! Mine! MINE!!"

"Uhm, okay..."

* * *

_**Blooper 16: Strike me a pose, Mister!**_

"Does it work for you?" Anzu asked.

Axel looked over himself in the mirror. "It works," he said eventually. With a confident grin, the red-head spun on the spot, striking a dramatic pose – and scaring most of the customers from the shop. Anzu was fired three days later.

* * *

_**Blooper 17: Marik's Map Misunderstanding**_

"Hey, Marik!" Yugi said as cheerfully as he could manage. There weren't many pleasant memories that he had with Marik, but he knew that the boy's darker side had been banished for good, so it was safe to be friendly.

Jounouchi, however, was still stiff around him, but he knew the boy meant no harm. "What's going on, Marik? Not every day you're not in Egypt."

"Damn!" the Egyptian cursed, crossing his arms. "You mean I got lost _again_?"

* * *

_**Blooper 18: What what?**_

"What seems to be bothering you?" Yugi asked.

Marik looked away. "I got home from a ride one day and Ishizu wasn't home."

"What happened?"

"She was kidnapped."

"WHAT?!"

"She was kidnapped."

"Yeah, I know that, but... what?!"

"I said, she was kidnapped!"

* * *

_**Blooper 19: All Your Sweets Are Belong To Marik**_

Marik grinned sheepishly. "Sorry, Ishizu…I kinda had to…"

The woman's eyes traveled to the Millennium Rod. "You didn't."

"Yes." There was an uncomfortable silence. "Yes, I _did_ steal your chocolate again."

* * *

_**Blooper 20: Axel the Know-It-All**_

"Why did he even mention that?" Sora muttered, beginning to walk off. "How did he even know…?"

Axel crossed his arms superiorly, and grinned. "We nobodies know _all_!"

* * *

_**Blooper 21: Why am I not Surprised?**_

"So Sora's from another world?" Yugi asked. "Why didn't he tell us?"

"How easily would you have believed him?" Roxas replied.

"Well..." Yugi sighed, counting off his fingers. "I've been kidnapped by a possessed foreigner, travelled back in time to Ancient Egypt, been involved in several Shadow Games that almost killed me, watched my grandpa have his soul absorbed into a video tape... Yeah, pretty easily."

Roxas stared back at the duelist with wide eyes.

* * *

_**Blooper 22: Identity Problems**_

Yugi sighed. Normally, Yami would be able to speak to him via soul room, so maybe he could do the same. Looking upward at the cloudy, rainy skies, he spoke. "Sora, I don't know if you can hear me, but I know you're upset because of what Xaldin said."

_Roxas…?_

"No," Yugi replied, shaking his head.

_Oh. Goofy?_

"Who?"

_Okay, okay... Donald. Stop trying to wake me up, I'm tired._

"For Ra's sake, who are you talking about?"

_Oh, I get it... so it's you. Get out of my head, Cid! Can't you see I'm trying to sleep?_

* * *

_**Blooper 23: Forever Frozen**_

The storm clouds faded, and the rain ceased. The sun appeared in the sky, shining brightly. Roxas nodded. "Thanks, Yugi. Maybe now Sora will be more confident about this."

"He will," Yugi replied, as he began to walk off. "And Roxas?"

"Yeah?"

"You might want to eat that popsicle before it just completely melts away..."

Roxas' eyes narrowed, looking around as if someone could be watching them, before muttering back in a most foreboding tone, "It never does, Yugi, it never does..."

* * *

_**Blooper 24: I'm not mad! Geez!**_

_Everything's fine, Yami. Sora's calmed down, too._

_He'd better,_ Yami agreed, disgruntled for some reason. _If I had to swap in the middle of the night for some reason and find he's broken your bed in half from tossing and turning so much I would have given him a penalty game just for that, involving dirty sheets and a lot of rain._

_Get some sleep, Yami,_ Yugi replied, grinning. _You're still cranky because you haven't gotten enough rest._

The spirit growled angrily. _Me, cranky?! I am NOT cranky, Yugi! Take that back now!_

* * *

_**Blooper 25: The Infamous and Always-Effective Plan B**_

The cards on all fields vanished within wisps of vapor, leaving Yami and Sora stunned and defenseless. The Nobodies were grinning. "Levia-Dragon, attack them directly!"

The two duelists braced themselves as a torrent of water slammed into them. When the assault ended, they glanced at their duel disks, noting that their life points had dropped from 4000 to a staggering 1400. Sora could feel Roxas wince. _Got any plans, Sora?_

_As a matter of fact, yes – we run._

* * *

_**Blooper 26: The Mother of All Evil**_

A loud roar of anguish echoed through the area, and Theinien began to stumble, vanishing into wisps of darkness. Sora slowly glided back down to the ground where he stood quietly as the great monster before them vanished, leaving one figure standing just beyond it: a familiar man in a black cloak.

Their battle was far from over... for now they had to face the mother of all evils.

Anubis's mother herself.

* * *

_**Blooper 27: Actually, I prefer Tacos**_

Stitch growled furiously. He knew this person, but he did not like this person very much. Stitch thought this person was very suspicious. This person was dressed in a black cloak, so he was probably one of those bad guys that hurt Sora. Stitch would very much have liked to blast this person with his plasma cannons, but Sora would not like that at all.

This person was the pizza man.

"Stitch no like pizza!"

* * *

_**Blooper 28: The REAL Secret to Victory**_

"Sora will be fine," Axel replied. "Sure, he's a complete goofball, but he can take care of himself. I saw him take on a thousand heartless single-handedly once."

"Not bad," Jounouchi commented, grinning. "How'd he pull _that_ off?"

Axel chuckled. "By being very inventive."

And so the replica spent an hour explaining why Sora was blessed with such huge feet.

* * *

_**Blooper 29: Continuity**_

"Besides," Axel continued, "Roxas isn't here right now. My guess is he hitched a ride on the way in, so to speak."

"How does that work out?" Jounouchi asked. "When that pyramid thing showed up, we all got sucked in except for the Pharaoh and Roxas. How'd they go in again?"

"Through the secret entrance, of course... members only."

* * *

_**Blooper 30: Return of the Know-It-All**_

"I've seen it before," Axel replied, exchanging a glance with Stitch before going on. "When Sora's best friend Kairi lost her heart, she didn't really become a Nobody. Her heart wasn't really lost to darkness, so her body still existed the way it should, only she didn't really move or respond to anyone. She was like a zombie."

"How do _you_ know all that?" Marik questioned.

"You forget, blondie..." Axel grinned superiorly. "I know-"

"Yeah, yeah," Roxas cut him off, rolling his eyes. "You know _everything_!"

* * *

_**Blooper 31: Making a Glorified Cameo**_

Sora smiled. "Kuriboh," he called. The little fiend instantly swiveled its attention to the keyblade master. "You kept trying to lead me to something the last few times I came. We need to get there now. Can you help us?"

Kuriboh bobbed in the air, and once again the group followed him. It was not long after they had navigated through the labyrinth that they met with an unexpected guest.

"Yugi boy, how nice of you to drop by!"

"PEGASUS?!"

* * *

_**Blooper 32: A Bad Case of Red-eye**_

There, standing in front of them was none other than Anubis himself, back in his human form rather than as a beast. Yami could tell something was not right with this man; an incredibly powerful darkness flowed off of him. The Pyramid of Light no longer hung around his neck, but a familiar crimson gem was embedded in his chest. He had a manic smile spread across his face, and his eyes were tinted a furious red.

"Oh boy," Roxas whispered. "I'd hate to see _his_ eyes in a photo..."

* * *

_**Blooper-slash-deleted scene: Who cares?**_

"Ah, I don't think we've had a proper introduction." Marik gave a sweeping bow. "My name is Marik Ishtar."

Sora narrowed his eyes. "I don't care."

Marik grinned slyly. "What if I told you I had exclusive knowledge of certain secrets?"

The keyblade master crossed his arms. "I don't care."

The blonde grumbled angrily. This called for a change of tactic. "Once I possess what I desire," he said, lifting the gold artifact in his hand, "The Millennium Rod will mean _absolutely nothing_ to me!"

There was a stony silence, and Sora narrowed his eyes, clenching his teeth in determination. Marik was definitely making a nice offer; it was hard to turn down. After a moment of contemplation, Sora looked up at the Egyptian and muttered his reply.

"…I don't care."

* * *

**Character Profiles**

Andro Sphinx  
(Yu-Gi-Oh: Pyramid of Light)  
A bi-pedal Sphinx created by Anubis. Its ferocious appearance does not exceed its power, for a single roar from the beast can dispose of just about anything. The lion-like creature was an immensely powerful adversary, but thanks to Slifer the Sky Dragon, Yami managed to take it down.

Anubis  
(Yu-Gi-Oh: Pyramid of Light)  
An ancient sorcerer that once planned to destroy the world, and thus rule over the destruction as Lord of the Dead. In the past, his plans were foiled by the Pharaoh, and he has revived to seek vengeance upon him. He utilized the Nobodies and created several replicas of Organization XIII to fool Sora and draw out Roxas, in the end only using them to bolster his Heartless army. He was eventually defeated by the Blue Eyes Shining Dragon, and subsequently his soul was eradicated from the Millennium Puzzle, where he had attempted to hide when his physical form was demolished.

Anzu Mazaki  
(Yu-Gi-Oh)  
Yugi's childhood friend, Anzu is a headstrong girl who isn't afraid to stand up for herself or her friends. She isn't much of a fighter or duelist herself, but her will is stronger than anything else. She values her friends more than anything, and seems to have the innate ability to sense them in danger.

Axel, Flurry of Dancing Flames  
(Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories; Kingdom Hearts II)  
A replica of Axel created by Anubis. He was threatened with being erased from existence if he did not defeat Sora and Yami, but Anubis did not count on him remembering the true Axel's experience with the keyblade master and his respective Nobody. Rather than fighting his own friend, Replica Axel switched sides and began fighting alongside Yugi, Yami, Sora and Roxas.

Blue Eyes Security Program Dragon  
(N/A)  
A program created by Seto Kaiba to protect the KaibaCorp database. It was unable to stop the Organization's attempt to look at the data stored inside, and ended up mistaking Sora, Yugi and Tron for viruses. Mokuba managed to disable it for a short time, but Kaiba unknowingly restarted it, sending it after Sora and Yugi again. Luckily, with Tron's help, they managed to escape unharmed, and the dragon continues to defend the system with Tron's assistance.

Cid  
(Kingdom Hearts)  
Though his country accent and mannerisms fool many people, Cid is actually a top-notch Gummi Ship engineer and computer expert. Sora first met him after his home world was destroyed, and places an enormous trust in the man. While he is familiar with the King, he only contacts him when necessary, as both are busy men. Cid looks out for Sora when he can, and it was only by a tip-off from the King that he managed to save both the keyblade master and Yugi from Anubis's wrath.

Dark Magician  
(Yu-Gi-Oh)  
A fierce mage and one of Yami's most trusted monsters, Dark Magician was the most often summoned Duel Monster in Yami's deck. His place in the Millennium Puzzle was exceedingly important, as he guarded the keyhole within it, not allowing anyone to pass. Though he is a very serious individual he is oftentimes scorned by his apprentice, Dark Magician Girl, for being too stiff.

Dark Magician Girl  
(Yu-Gi-Oh)  
As Dark Magician's apprentice, Dark Magician Girl prefers to fight alongside her mentor. While she has a respect for him, she is often disgruntled that he lacks a sense of humor most of the time. She briefly befriended Sora when he was drawn into the Millennium Puzzle, and aided them in defeating Anubis once and for all.

Demyx, the Melodious Nocturne  
(Kingdom Hearts II)  
A second attempt to make a powerful replica via data after Axel's betrayal, Demyx was still considered too weak to defeat the Pharaoh and Sora and was instead modified to be a powerful duelist. His deck focused on water-based monsters, with his most powerful card being the Levia-Dragon Daedalus. Even with all his power, however, Yami and Sora managed to defeat him. He only fell unconscious after being attacked by Yami, but was deemed a failure and disposed of by Xigbar.

Hayner  
(Kingdom Hearts II)  
A resident of Twilight Town with an attitude problem, Hayner is a fierce competitor when it comes to the local sport of Struggle. A virtual version of himself once befriended Roxas, eventually leading him to become close with Sora once the two met. While he tends to be rather rude, he always means well. The only thing he hates more than his arch-rival is schoolwork.

Ishizu Ishtar  
(Yu-Gi-Oh)  
Formerly the bearer of the Millennium Torque, Ishizu is a calm and kind woman. She cares very greatly for her brother, but is hesitant about allowing him to do reckless things. Xaldin attempted to abduct her for information on the Shadow Games, but thanks to Marik she was able to escape his grips.

Jonuouchi Katsuya  
(Yu-Gi-Oh)  
Jounouchi was a bully and street thug before he finally became friends with Yugi. He may act tough, but he's actually a kind-hearted, somewhat playful young man whom isn't afraid to try his luck. His encounters with Marik in Battle City as well as other things have somehow given him an odd ability to see the spirits of the Millennium Items when they show themselves, as well as Nobodies like Roxas.

Kuriboh  
(Yu-Gi-Oh)  
Though a weak Duel Monster, Kuriboh is never to be underestimated. He is a playful and cheerful fiend, but he is very intelligent and brave in spite of his size. Kuriboh is Yami's _ka_, the Duel Monster that symbolizes his soul. He attempted to lead Sora to the keyhole, but was unable to do so until Anubis was finally defeated.

Larxene, Savage Nymph  
(Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories)  
Not the true Larxene, but a copy created by Anubis. She faced off one-on-one with Sora, and though she was more powerful than before, Sora managed to outsmart her and she lost the battle. She controlled the element of lightning and was known for her swift speeds. The true Larxene was defeated in Castle Oblivion, in spite of Sora's false memories confusing him.

Luxord, the Gambler of Fate  
(Kingdom Hearts II)  
A replica created by Anubis. A cunning gambler, Luxord was also created by the data copied from KaibaCorp's database after Axel betrayed Anubis. While his deck provided not much of a threat monster-wise, he always has a trick up his sleeve. Cooperating with Demyx gave him an advantage, but he met his end due to his own recklessness.

Marik Ishtar  
(Yu-Gi-Oh)  
When Marik initially met Yugi, he was bent on getting revenge on the Pharaoh, but soon after a series of chaotic events leading to the banishment of his darker half, Marik accepted his duty as Tomb Keeper. He has since been good friends with Yugi. While Marik's residence is in Egypt, he does visit Yugi from time to time. He bears the Millennium Rod, but rarely uses it as of late.

Marluxia, the Graceful Assassin  
(Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories)  
A replica Marluxia created by Anubis. Learning from his mistakes after Larxene's defeat, Anubis powered up Marluxia greatly, and Sora was nearly taken down within moments. In order to protect Sora, Yami challenged Marluxia to a shadow game, forcing him to face the accusations of his past. While Marluxia planned to make an escape even if he lost, his mutinous nature led to his downfall.

Mokuba Kaiba  
(Yu-Gi-Oh)  
Seto Kaiba's younger brother, a good-hearted and somewhat naive boy. He is entirely devoted to his older brother, but Seto tends to be a bit annoyed that Mokuba considers Yugi and the gang his friends. He is intelligent in his own right, though he wasn't always kind toward Yugi. He aids his brother in running KaibaCorp, and helped Sora and Yugi enter the database when it was being hacked.

Olette  
(Kingdom Hearts II)  
Kind-hearted and generous, Olette usually gets stuck cleaning up whatever mess Hayner gets his friends dragged into. Even so, she cares very much for her friends and helps them as much as she can, though unfortunately she has to drag them by their ears to get them to do their homework. She isn't into sports very much, but she enjoys watching Hayner compete.

Pegasus J. Crawford  
(Yu-Gi-Oh)  
Former wielder of the Millennium Eye and a talented artist, Pegasus not only invented Duel Monsters but also used it along with the Millennium Items in attempt to resurrect his dead wife. After he was defeated by Yugi, however, he realized his errors and changed his ways. He owns and runs Industrial Illusions, the company that creates Duel Monsters and runs several tournaments. He also aids Yugi from time to time, perhaps in effort of seeking redemption for his terrible deeds in the past, even though Yugi has forgiven him.

Pence  
(Kingdom Hearts II)  
Though Pence is a very intelligent boy, he's also very laid back and takes a great interest in the supernatural. He enjoys going with the flow when things come along, and crossing the bridge when he gets to it rather than planning ahead, though this more than always gets him dragged into Hayner's escapades or hauled off to shop with Olette. He enjoys eating Sea-Salt ice cream, and is often teased that he's always happy when he's eating.

Riku  
(Kingdom Hearts)  
Sora's best friend, also a keyblade master of sorts. Riku's yearning to see the outside world became so strong that one day he was granted that wish when his world was destroyed. For a while, he was tricked into believing Sora had forsaken him, but eventually came to realize the truth and re-allied himself with Sora. He tends to be a stern and serious person – not to mention intelligent – but he never passes up a chance to either compete with or tease his friend Sora.

Rishid Ishtar  
(Yu-Gi-Oh)  
Marik and Ishizu's adoptive brother, he once attempted to spare Marik from the pain of the Tombkeeper's initiation, but was denied. He later became the one to seal away Marik's darker half, and even after the darkness left Marik he remains loyal to his adoptive brother. Though he may be intimidating at times, he is really a kind man.

Roxas, the Key to Destiny  
(Kingdom Hearts II)  
Roxas was created when Sora sacrificed himself to save Kairi, and has searched endlessly for the reason why he had the keyblade, and also searched for Sora himself. Eventually, after betraying and leaving the Organization, he found his answers, but not in the way he had hoped. He and Sora share a more parasitic relationship, rather than a symbiotic one that Yugi and Yami share.

Seto Kaiba  
(Yu-Gi-Oh)  
The elder of the Kaiba brothers and self-proclaimed arch-rival of Yugi Mutou. Due to his harsh childhood, Seto doesn't allow himself to get close to anyone as a friend or otherwise. He is extremely intelligent, and as head of Kaiba Corporation it definitely shows, as he developed Duel Disk technology himself. Though Yami banished the evil in his heart some time ago, Seto still holds a grudge against him. He firmly disbelieves in anything supernatural.

Sora  
(Kingdom Hearts)  
A cheerful but somewhat naïve young man, the keyblade master. Sora somehow manages to make the best of every situation, and never goes back on a promise. After traversing many worlds, he has easily become adaptable to any situation he is thrown in, but he is still easily surprised. He continues his search for the King and his best friend Riku.

Sphinx Teleia  
(Yu-Gi-Oh: Pyramid of Light)  
A terrible yet powerful beast created by Anubis, sent to attack Yugi and Sora when Axel failed to dispose of them. Teleia has the body of a white lion and snowy-white, majestic wings, as well as the head of a beautiful woman. When attacking, however, that splendor immediately vanishes to reveal her true, hideous self. Her claws are among her most powerful weapons, and the ability to fly gives her an enormous advantage. With help from Axel and Yugi, Sora managed to take down the monstrosity.

Stiltzkin  
(Kingdom Hearts II)  
A moogle that used to run a shop. Stiltzkin now works for the Hollow Bastion Restoration Committee, and also serves as one of their top messengers and delivery personnel. He delivered Tron's data disc to Sora when Anubis sent a replica to hack into KaibaCorp's database.

Sugoroku Mutou  
(Yu-Gi-Oh)  
Yugi's knowledgeable grandfather, Sugoroku is a duel monsters expert whom retired from dueling shortly after Kaiba ruthlessly defeated him. He has since forgiven Kaiba for his actions. Sugoroku can be a bit absent-minded at times, but he cares much for his grandson.

Theinien, the Great Sphinx  
(Yu-Gi-Oh: Pyramid of Light)  
After the initial plan was ruined, Anubis fused his two sphinxes together, giving them incredible power as the ultimate Sphinx. It proved to be a nearly unstoppable adversary, almost completely demolishing the group. With Hyozanryu's guidance, however, Sora managed to defeat the monstrosity via Final Form and end its rampage.

Tron  
(Kingdom Hearts II)  
Tron is a security program, and though he might not be much more he is still friends with Sora. Not long after KaibaCorp's database was hacked, Tron was installed onto Kaiba's computer to help find the source of the invasion. While they were too late to stop the attack, the group did manage to get rid of excess heartless that had wormed their way in and save the system a lot of damage.

Xaldin, the Whirlwind Lancer  
(Kingdom Hearts II)  
A replica of Xaldin created by Anubis. He was sent to kidnap Ishizu Ishtar, the guardian of the Millennium Torque, in order to gain information about the Shadow Games. With Marik's help, Sora and Yami managed to defeat him, but not before he left the keyblade master with distressing words.

Xigbar, the Freeshooter  
(Kingdom Hearts II)  
Not really Xigbar, but a replica created by Anubis. A sarcastic man, he destroyed Demyx after the duel with Sora and Yami was lost, and was sent to destroy the two on his own. On his own agenda, he instead thought to destroy the Pharaoh by using the darkness in Sora's own heart. Though the plan nearly worked, it still destroyed him.

Yami  
(Yu-Gi-Oh)  
Yugi's "other self," nicknamed Yami because he is considered to be the dark part of Yugi's heart. Before he sealed his spirit away in the Millennium Puzzle, he was a Pharaoh in ancient Egypt over three thousand years before the story's events. He is a fierce opponent to anyone whom would dare cross his path, and is not afraid to issue a penalty game to anyone deserving of it. While he may be a serious and protective person, he does have a rare sense of humor. Yami has never lost a single game, earning him the nickname "King of Games."

Yugi Mutou  
(Yu-Gi-Oh)  
A lover of games and trustworthy friend, Yugi spent eight years solving the Millennium Puzzle, which he is rarely seen without. No longer quite as naïve and gullible as he was, Yugi has managed to gain some of his own self-confidence throughout the years. He is an excellent judge on character, and can easily tell a friend from an ally. Yugi is also very meek, and will give much for the sake of his companions.

Zexion, the Cloaked Schemer  
(Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories)  
Anubis's second in command and a replica of the real Zexion. He is perfectly fine with exploiting others to do his dirty work so he won't have to soil his own cuffs. When he _is_ forced to fight, he is a very formidable opponent, but thanks to Hyozanryu Sora found a way to defeat him. He was promptly disposed of by Anubis for his incompetence.

* * *

**Special Thanks**

_The Danvers Girls (Sammi) – _For beta-reading most of this fic and giving me tons of ideas

_Charon The Sabercat_ – For showing me this site in the first place

_All of my readers_ – For taking time out of your day to read this humongous piece of insanity

_Kazuki Takahashi_ – For creating Yu-Gi-Oh!

_Square-Enix and Disney_ – For creating Kingdom Hearts

* * *

**Special Secret: A New Threat**

The sky was dark, the temple in ruins. Within were three statues, each of an elegant dragon. A strange figure in a black cloak walked in, scanning the area quietly. No one – and nothing – was there to see what was to happen.

This world was a peaceful one, but turmoil had been born and was beginning to write its way throughout. This place was exposed to danger, and there was little that could be done. Then again, there was one thing that might be able to help save this world. Silently, the figure looked up upon the statues.

"If you could be awoken, perhaps we could save your world."

Of course, there was no reply. The cloaked person walked away, fear plaguing the air surrounding the area. Before another step could be made, the sky swirled ominously, an eye appearing in the sky, surrounded by darkness. The stranger paused to spare a hateful glance, teeth clenched and eyes narrowed. Making a swift decision, the figure fled, leaving naught but footprints behind.


End file.
